World Cup 2006 - Groups

[ombak]

The draw is Friday and no one has started a thread yet?

BILD has published the likely pots for the draw:

Seeds: Germany, Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico

Pot 2: CONMEBOL, CAF and Australia (8 teams)

Pot 3: UEFA (9 teams)

Pot 4: CONCACAF and AFC (7 teams)

FIFA will reveal the actual pots and the procedure tomorrow. I would not be surprised if BILD got it exactly right.

The draw itself is Friday at 9pm local time.

 

[willemvanoranje]

WTH.. Holland is not seeded?

 

[Dell19]

Probable pools for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany (based on Fifa's system for the 1998 and 2002 tournaments):

Pool One: Germany, Brazil, Italy, France, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, England.

Pool Two: Holland, USA, Czech Republic, Croatia, South Korea, Japan, Paraguay.

Pool Three: Ecuador, Switzerland, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Iran, Costa Rica, Portugal.

Pool Four: Ukraine, Serbia & Montenegro, Ivory Coast, Australia, Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Togo, Angola.

Thats the prediction according to the BBC based on the past seedings. However Blatter has apparently said that Holland, England and Italy may not be seeded in pool one.

 

[Stapel]

WTH.. Holland is not seeded?

Where have you been?
Old news!

Missing a WC is never a good thing for seeding!

 

[Dell19]

Apparently Serbia and Montenegro have been placed in a special pot.

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: Sebria & Montenegro

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4356050.stm

 

[Stapel]

S&M will be put in the group with Brasil, Argentina ot Mexico, to avoid 3 European teams in one group.

 

[classical_hero]

So now here is the real question, which teams do you want to face?

I'm sure most Australians would love to be paired with England. That would be just great.

 

[SonicX]

I'd only wish we had a team to face

 

[Dell19]

England, Australia, US and one more?

 

[willemvanoranje]

Where have you been?
Old news!

Missing a WC is never a good thing for seeding!

but surely we did better in '98 than Mexico in '98 AND '02

 

[classical_hero]

England, Australia, US and one more?

Maybe Poland, considering that these four countries are the main stays of the Coalition.

 

[Stapel]

but surely we did better in '98 than Mexico in '98 AND '02

Not sure about this. More recent WCs usually count more.
Apart from that, Mexico is alos high on the FIFA list (like we are).

 

[Dell19]

The last WC apparently counted twice as much as normal.

 

[Stapel]

Every single nation from pot 2 or pot 4 is so horribly poor, that all other teams should be in the next round.
There will, as always, be some exceptions, though.
Also, S&M are not that bad, and maybe US or Aussies will climb from their eternal football dwarfness, this time. But I doubt it.

 

[col]

England, Australia, US and one more?

That would be very nice.

 

[willemvanoranje]

The last WC apparently counted twice as much as normal.

that explains...


now as for that one more country in your group... England, Australia, US and... T&T? Too bad that isn't possible because of the pots haha.. you'll have to go with Portugal or something then.. or Sweden.. didn't the Vikings raid England? And let's not forget the old conqueror

 

[ombak]

Probable pools for the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany (based on Fifa's system for the 1998 and 2002 tournaments):

Pool One: Germany, Brazil, Italy, France, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, England.

Pool Two: Holland, USA, Czech Republic, Croatia, South Korea, Japan, Paraguay.

Pool Three: Ecuador, Switzerland, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Iran, Costa Rica, Portugal.

Pool Four: Ukraine, Serbia & Montenegro, Ivory Coast, Australia, Ghana, Trinidad & Tobago, Togo, Angola.

Thats the prediction according to the BBC based on the past seedings. However Blatter has apparently said that Holland, England and Italy may not be seeded in pool one.

The BBC's prediction, like so many other media outlets, was nonsense. FIFA has consistently divided the pots up geographically (after the seeds) and stated that they would do the same this time. Why people were using the seeding to figure out Pots 2 through 4 is beyond me. Just lazy reporting really.

On to the actual pots: the biggest surprise is having Serbia in a special pot instead of randomly drawing the 9th UEFA team. I guess this guarantess that Serbia will face Brazil, Argentina or Mexico, which makes for a tough group already.

 

[MCdread]

Anyone but Ghana (and maybe Paraguay) from pot 2. From pot 4 they all seem prety even, except the Saudi Arabia and Trinidad. The group I'd like would be Brazil, Angola and Trinidad. 3 lusophone countries and the weakest link imo. I guess that like usually the holders will open the tournament, so I'd want Brazil-Portugal to be the first match. Great game for the neutrals to start the tournament, and to see exactly where we stand. If we loose, no problem: except 2002, we always perform better under pressure.

 

[ombak]

Anyone but Ghana (and maybe Paraguay) from pot 2. From pot 4 they all seem prety even, except the Saudi Arabia and Trinidad. The group I'd like would be Brazil, Angola and Trinidad. 3 lusophone countries and the weakest link imo. I guess that like usually the holders will open the tournament, so I'd want Brazil-Portugal to be the first match. Great game for the neutrals to start the tournament, and to see exactly where we stand. If we loose, no problem: except 2002, we always perform better under pressure.

Germany (A1) will open the tournament. Brazil will be F1. I think this change has to do with the fact that the holders no longer qualify automatically.

 

[downtown]

Every single nation from pot 2 or pot 4 is so horribly poor, that all other teams should be in the next round.
There will, as always, be some exceptions, though.
Also, S&M are not that bad, and maybe US or Aussies will climb from their eternal football dwarfness, this time. But I doubt it.

I do not think that the US or South Korea are *thaaat bad*. certainly they can beat teams that are in the 3rd group. I expect the americans to make the round of 16 this year, for sure.