The latest FIFA rannkings are out and, as predicted, France and Portugal replaced England and Argentina in the top seven, owing to their UEFA play-offs
However, FIFA are actually being fair about this and it will be the October 2009 rankings that will be used for the seeds (although FIFA may use some other criteria as well)
The detailed criteria to determine the seeded teams for the Final Draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ will be confirmed at the next meeting of the Organising Committee for the FIFA World Cup™ in Cape Town on 2 December 2009 (and announced at a press conference following the meeting).
If the criteria to determine the seeded teams were to include, as in the past, the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking, then it would be the October 2009 edition of this ranking which would be considered, and this for sporting reasons. In fact, using the November 2009 edition would create an uneven situation, specifically for the European Zone, where the play-offs involving the eight best runners-up led to an imbalance in the number of qualification matches played between the teams.
This means that the top seven ranked teams considered will be:
Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England
England's Euro 2008 failure may impact on them, but surely the French, with their truly awful Euro 2008 performance, won't get a spot either
We shall find out on 2nd December...
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