2010 World Cup seeding update (20 November 2009)

I had to publish an update (see the original post) because FIFA published this little bit of information:

"Final Draw for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ – note to media
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."

Would you believe it... it was fair to use the November 2005 edition for the 2006 World Cup seeding, but it's not fair now. Go figure...

On to the seeding table.

This is not official - it's based on the 2006 FIFA World Cup seeding formula and draw setup (CAF + CONMEBOL in one pot, AFC + CONCACAF + OFC in the other, title holders in Group F).

Algeria/Slovenia replace Egypt/Russia.

With the October 2009 ranking being used, it's all very neat - Argentina 50, France 49, Portugal 47 (using rounded totals).

Rank in the seeding table - Country - Total - Performance points - FIFA Ranking Points

 1 Brazil         59.7 29.3 30.3
 2 Germany        59.3 30.3 29.0
 3 Italy          56.7 27.3 29.3
 4 Spain          56.0 25.3 30.7
 5 England        51.3 26.3 25.0
 6 Argentina      49.7 21.0 28.7
 7 France         48.7 23.3 25.3
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 8 Portugal       47.3 22.3 25.0
 9 Netherlands    43.0 14.7 28.3
10 Mexico         37.7 19.3 18.3
11 USA            34.7 13.7 21.0
12 Switzerland    31.7 15.3 16.3
13 Paraguay       30.3 11.7 18.7
14 Ghana          24.7 13.3 11.3
15 Korea Republic 23.7 15.7  8.0
16 Cameroon       23.7  3.0 20.7
17 Japan          23.3 13.3 10.0
18 Australia      23.3 11.3 12.0
19 Greece         21.3  0.0 21.3
20 Côte d'Ivoire  20.3  6.0 14.3
21 Serbia         20.3  5.3 15.0
22 Denmark        19.7  7.7 12.0
23 Nigeria        19.7  2.7 17.0
24 Uruguay        18.3  2.7 15.7
25 Chile          13.0  0.0 13.0
26 Honduras        7.7  0.0  7.7
27 Slovakia        7.0  0.0  7.0
28 Slovenia        6.7  2.7  4.0
29 South Africa    6.3  3.0  3.3
30 Algeria         6.3  0.0  6.3
31 New Zealand     2.3  0.0  2.3
32 Korea DPR       1.0  0.0  1.0

Pot 1 (seeded teams): Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain
Pot 2 (rest of UEFA): Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland
Pot 3 (AFC + OFC + CONCACAF): Australia, Honduras, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Mexico, New Zealand, USA
Pot 4 (CAF + rest of CONMEBOL): Algeria, Cameroon, Chile, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Paraguay, Uruguay

Possible draw (using random.org):

Group A: South Africa, Serbia, USA, Uruguay
Group B: Argentina, Slovakia, Australia, Ghana
Group C: England, Portugal, Mexico, Paraguay
Group D: Brazil, Netherlands, Honduras, Cameroon
Group E: France, Greece, Korea Republic, Nigeria
Group F: Italy, Denmark, Japan, Chile
Group G: Spain, Slovenia, New Zealand, Algeria
Group H: Germany, Switzerland, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire

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About me:

Christian, husband, father x 3, programmer, Romanian. Started the blog in March 2007. Quit in April 2018. You can find me on LinkedIn.