bluenose_72 198 Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 Uefa has confirmed the draw procedures for the finals of Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. The news is, as expected, good for England - who will once again be amongst the top seeds for both draws - but Scotland and Northern Ireland can expect more favourable opponents following their excellent showings in their current Euro 2008 qualifying campaigns. Uefa has confirmed that whilst Fifa's world rankings will be used for the World Cup draw, its own coefficients, which are significantly different, would be used for the Euro 2008 finals draw. For Euro 2008 - should England qualify - then they are likely to be in pot two, which is the strongest pool. This is because pot one consists of co-hosts Austria and Switzerland, holders Greece - assuming they seal qualification, which seems likely - and Uefa's highest-ranking side, which is Spain. That leaves a likely second pot of England, Italy, France and Germany - or Portugal if any of the other four fail to make it - as they are the next ranked nations on Uefa's system. Should Scotland make the finals, then they would be amongst the third seeds. For the World Cup - England, ranked seventh in Europe by Fifa, would be in the group of nine first seeds. Draw dates: World Cup qualifying, Durban, November 25th Euro 2008 finals, Lucerne, December 2nd Scotland - currently ranked 14th by Fifa - would make the second pot, although they are within touching distance of the last place in the first pool, currently occupied by Czech Republic. Northern Ireland's upturn in fortunes sees them in the third group along with Republic of Ireland - and Wales are still in with a shout of making the same pot, with their current ranking of 53. The World Cup qualifying format in Europe sees the nine group winners qualify directly for South Africa, with the four remaining spots to be competed for by the eight best group runners-up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
knight industries 2000 0 Posted September 29, 2007 Share Posted September 29, 2007 England can lose to the likes of san marino and faroe island and still not drop in the fifa rankings Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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