GERMANY: SOCCER: Eight seeded teams for the 2006 World Cup finals have been announced by FIFA.

Record ID: 692415

  • Title: GERMANY: SOCCER: Eight seeded teams for the 2006 World Cup finals have been announced by FIFA.
  • Date: 7th December 2005
  • Summary: (BN11) LEIPZIG, GERMANY (DECEMBER 6, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) WIDE OF PODIUM PHOTOGRAPHERS TAKING PICTURES OFFICIAL SHOWING FIFA FOOTBALL TO PHOTOGRAPHERS, PAN TO UEFA PRESIDENT LENNART JOHANSSON WORLD CUP 2006 AND FIFA LOGOS WIDE OF STAGE CAMERA CREWS FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (German) URS LINSI, FIFA GENERAL SECRETARY SAYING: "In January 2005 we decided that the last day f
  • Embargoed: 22nd December 2005 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAA2FFSVVL2BJBNTD0P1QYLJ2UY
  • Story Text: Hosts Germany and defending champions Brazil were named among the top eight seeds for the World Cup finals as expected on Tuesday (December 6), along with England, Spain, Mexico, France, Argentina and Italy. FIFA decided the rest of the draw, which takes place on Friday (December 9), would group teams in pots according to their geographical locations rather than their current world ranking or previous World Cup performances. The second pot will contain Australia, the five African finalists: Ghana, Ivory Coast, Tunisia, Angola and Togo, plus the two lower ranked South American teams Ecuador and Paraguay. The third pot will comprise eight European teams: Croatia, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine. The fourth pot will comprise four Asian teams: Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and the three remaining from CONCACAF Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago and the United States. A special pot will contain only Serbia & Montenegro, the lowest ranked European team, who will be placed in a group including either Brazil, Argentina or Mexico. FIFA created the special pot so they could avoid having any groups with more than two European teams. In an unexpected move FIFA said that players selected for the 2006 World Cup will not be allowed to play for their clubs after May 15. The cut-off date has been introduced to give players time to recover before the start of the 2006 World Cup in Germany on June 9. The one exception to the deadline will be the European Champions League final, which has been moved forward by a week to May 17. That means the final in Paris, which will doubtless feature many players from the qualified teams, still misses the deadline but only by two days. "We don't want burned out players. They will be free from any other engagement," FIFA general secretary Urs Linsi said on Tuesday. Explaining the seedings, Jim Brown, FIFA's Director of Competitions said: "In regard to ranking of teams when it came to positioning within the pot, we applied the following: the FIFA ranking of the last three years at a 1-1-1 ratio would be applied and at the two past FIFA World Cups at a 2:1 ratio would be applied. The reason for the past two World Cups was those that the last two, or the only two, that had 32 teams participate. 1994 had 24 teams and the process seemed to apply that the last two made most sense. In regard to seeding, we confirmed decisions by the committee that had previously been made, that Germany as host would be in position A1 and Brazil as a reigning champion would be in position F1." One team from each pot will be drawn into the eight groups in the first stage of the finals in Germany which run from June 9 to July 9. Pool One: Germany (hosts), Brazil (champions), Italy, France, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, England Pool Two: Australia, Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, Tunisia, Ecuador, Paraguay Pool Three: Croatia, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine Pool Four: Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago, United States Special pot: Serbia & Montenegro The full draw for the finals takes place in Leipzig on Friday. The finals start on June 9 and end on July 9, 2006.
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