The most anticipated part of the draw was the European portion. The most FIFA World Cup championships are held by European squads, who took the lead 10-9 over South America with Spain's victory at South Africa 2010. Before the draw, all the talk was of how the pots were playing out after the FIFA rankings were released on 27 July 2011. Big news included France slipping to Pot 2 and Wales slipping below the Faroe Islands into Pot 6.The fifty-three teams taking part in the draw were split into nine groups. The first eight groups had six teams and Group I had five teams. Each team will play every other team in their group home and away. The teams in the first eight groups will play a total of ten matches. The teams in Group I will play eight matches. The winner of each group will advance directly to the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brasil. The eight best second-place teams will advance to the UEFA playoffs.
The top seed in each group is listed first, followed by the second seed, the third seed, the fourth seed, the fifth seed, and the sixth seed (except in Group I, who only have five teams. The easiest way to fix this imbalance would be for FIFA to admit Kosovo, but I am obviously not in charge here).
Group A
Croatia
Serbia
Belgium
Scotland
Macedonia
Wales
Group B
Italy
Denmark
Czech Republic
Bulgaria
Armenia
Malta
Group C
Germany
Sweden
Ireland
Austria
Faroe Islands
Kazakhstan
Group D
Netherlands
Turkey
Hungary
Romania
Estonia
Andorra
Group E
Norway
Slovenia
Switzerland
Albania
Cyprus
Iceland
Group F
Portugal
Russia
Israel
Northern Ireland
Azerbaijan
Luxembourg
Group G
Greece
Slovakia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Lithuania
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Group H
England
Montenegro
Ukraine
Poland
Moldova
San Marino
Group I
Spain
France
Belarus
Georgia
Finland
Because UEFA qualifying does not begin until after Euro 2012, I will refrain from making an in-depth analysis until after that tournament takes place. However, I will list my early predictions.
First place:
Croatia, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal, Slovakia, England, Spain
Second place:
Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Turkey, Slovenia, Russia, Greece, Montenegro, France
Links
Overview of draw:
Group A breakdown:
Group B breakdown:
Group C breakdown:
Group D breakdown:
Group E breakdown:
Group F breakdown:
Group G breakdown:
Ukraine's coach reacts to draw:
Group H breakdown:
Spain's coach reacts to draw:
Group I breakdown:
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