Yes. Thanks for catching that, since I realized I had made a mistake just as zahzah was mentioning it, but didn't feel figuring out how? It seems I had for some reason put Nigeria instead of Ghana when I re-posted the groups.
FIFA Rankings - besides Brazil, is there a chance that the ranking order of the top seven teams will CHANGE by all the WCQ and international friendliest since the October rankings were announced? I see that it is a point system. Or is it set regulation that ESP, GER, ARG, COL, BEL, URU, CHR will be the seeds for the December 6th pot?
The October rankings will be used. The November ranking would be skewed, as some teams are in playoffs (extra points), while others only play friendlies.
Now that France have qualified, throw them in along with the US and we can have a the Group of Grudges.
Here's a thought....what if FIFA creates the pots using its own rankings, rather than geographical groups? Here's what the pots would look like (using October rankings): Pot A (seeded teams) - Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland Pot B - Netherlands, Italy, England, Portugal, Greece, Bosnia, Chile, USA Pot C - France, Croatia, Russia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Ecuador, Mexico, Costa Rica Pot D - Honduras, Algeria, Nigeria, Cameroon, Japan, S.Korea, Iran, Australia The draw itself would not be that hard.... Step #1 - Draw Pot A Step #2 - Draw France/Croatia/Russia from Pot C into groups which have a South American seed Step #3 - Draw Ecuador from Group C into group which has a UEFA seed Step #4 - Draw rest of Pot C teams Step #5 - Draw Chile from Pot B into any group without a South American team Step #6 - Draw USA into any group except those containing Mexico/Costa Rica Step #7 - Draw rest of Pot B teams Step #8 - Draw three African teams from group D into any group except those with Ghana/Ivory Coast Step #9 - Draw Honduras into any group except those containing Mexico/Costa Rica/USA Step #10 - Draw rest of Pot D teams The simple truth is that because all four Asia teams are in Pot D, as well as three of the five African teams, there is not that much potential for two teams from the same federation being drawn into the same group anyway.
1. Brazil 2. Germany 3. Spain 4. Italy 5. Portugal 6. Netherlands 7. Argentina It pains me to not put England in there, but it's just the honest truth. I do believe they are a close 8th or 9th best country in the world right now.