World Cup Countdown

England have been seeded for Friday's draw in Leipzig. The other 7 nations seeded are:

Brazil
Germany
Spain
Mexico
France
Argentina
Italy

England were seeded number 2, which is ridiculous. The US missed out by 1 point to Italy but you can't help but think that the FIFA ranking co-efficent is a bit dodgy. The Czech Republic go into the European 'pot' even though they are ranked 2nd in the most recent FIFA world rankings.

The draw on Friday will involve 4 pots as follows:

POT ONE
Germany (hosts); Brazil (holders); Argentina; England; France; Italy; Mexico; Spain
POT TWO
Australia; Angola; Ghana; Ivory Coast; Togo; Tunisia; Ecuador; Paraguay
POT THREE
Croatia; Czech Republic; Netherlands; Poland; Portugal; Sweden; Switzerland; Ukraine
POT FOUR
Iran; Japan; Saudi Arabia; South Korea; Costa Rica; Trinidad & Tobago; US
SPECIAL POT
Serbia & Montenegro

This is how it will work:

The eight seeded teams will be drawn into eight different groups. Germany have already been allocated Group A and Brazil Group F.

Eight unseeded European sides will be drawn into the eight different groups.

The lowest-ranked European side Serbia and Montenegro will be allocated to one of the groups containing either Brazil, Argentina or Mexico to ensure there is no more than two European sides in any group.

A pot of the five African countries, Australia and the two remaining South American sides drawn into eight different groups.

A pot containing the four Asian countries, the USA, Costa Rica and Trinidad drawn into seven different groups.