Will David Beckham be celebrating in July?
Who might England play?
Wednesday, 07 December 2005.
England are one of the eight seeds for the 2006 World Cup, but who might they play? TheFA.com looks at the possible pots.
No group can hold more than two European teams, or more than one from each of the other confederations.
The top eight seeds (Pot one) are: Brazil, Germany, Argentina, England, Italy, France, Spain and Mexico.
Pot two will contain the five African qualifiers, the two remaining South American teams as well as Australia. Ecuador and Paraguay will be kept away from Brazil and Argentina.
Pot three contains eight European teams. Serbia & Montenegro, as the lowest ranked European country, are in a special group on their own to avoid three European countries being drawn together.
Pot four contains the four Asian countries - Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea - and the three remaining CONCACAF qualifiers - Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States. They would all be kept apart from any other team from their respective confederations.
England will definitely play one of the non-seeded European teams, which include Czech Republic and Holland, and any other two teams from the remaining two pots - two and four.
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POT ONE |
POT TWO |
POT THREE |
POT FOUR |
|
Germany |
Australia |
Croatia |
USA |
|
England |
Angola |
Czech Republic |
Costa Rica |
|
Brazil |
Ecuador |
Holland |
Iran |
|
Argentina |
Ghana |
Poland |
Japan |
|
France |
Ivory Coast |
Portugal |
Saudi Arabia |
|
Italy |
Paraguay |
Sweden |
South Korea |
|
Mexico |
Togo |
Switzerland |
Trinidad & Tobago |
|
Spain |
Tunisia |
Ukraine |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SPECIAL POT |
|
|
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Serbia and Montenegro |
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