World Cup draw procedure and pots announced

By Brian Lofrumento | 2nd December 2009

World Cup draw procedure and pots announced | read this item

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World Cup 2010 frenzy is hitting its climax this week with the group stage draw only two days away. The FIFA Organizing Committee has today announced the procedure for this draw along with the pots and seeded teams.

Pot 1 (seeded teams and the hosts): South Africa, Italy, Spain, England, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Holland

Pot 2 (Asia, Oceania, and CONCACAF): Australia, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Honduras, Mexico, USA, New Zealand

Pot 3 (Africa and South America): Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay

Pot 4 (remaining European teams): Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland

South Africa will automatically be drawn as the first team in Group A, and the rest of Pot 1 will be allocated to groups B through H. For the rest of the draw no two teams from the same association (continent) can be put into the same group, with the exception of European teams (of which there can be a maximum of two teams in one group). For example, Brazil cannot draw Paraguay from pot three, South Africa cannot draw Ghana from pot three, etc.

Premiership Talk hosted a mock draw of the World Cup group stages with writer Taylor Fisher playing the role of Heidi Klum this time. The results are as follows:

Group A: South Africa, Japan, Uruguay, France

Group B: Italy, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Serbia

Group C: Spain, North Korea, Algeria, Slovenia

Group D: England, Mexico, Chile, Greece

Group E: Germany, USA, Cameroon, Switzerland

Group F: Argentina, Australia, Ghana, Denmark

Group G: Brazil, South Korea, Nigeria, Slovakia

Group H: Holland, New Zealand, Paraguay, Portugal

Some very interesting potential groups there, with Group F arguably the group of death. Meanwhile, Holland would take on Portugal.

Catch the full and real draw for the 2010 World Cup live on Friday, December 4th. Check your local listings for television coverage, but fans in the United States can watch it live at 12pm EST on ESPN2.

Premiership Talk will also be airing the unveiling of the new World Cup ball live at 7:45am EST, 12:45pm GMT right here on our website. There will be live video of David Beckham, Sepp Blatter, and Franz Beckenbauer as they unveil the new ball for the 11th adidas World Cup. This can’t be seen on television, so stay tuned to Premiership Talk!