France unseeded for World Cup draw

World Cup seedings:France have missed out on a place among the top eight seeds for Friday's World Cup draw. And as expected, there will be no late reprieve for the Republic of Ireland with Fifa sticking to the 32 teams automatically qualified for the finals.

Fifa’s World Cup organising committee announced the seeds today based on October’s world rankings, meaning England will join Brazil, Spain, Holland, Italy, Germany, Argentina along with host country South Africa.

France are left as the most dangerous floating team who could be drawn in the same group as any one of the top eight seeds.

After their hugely-controversial play-off win over Ireland there was some suspicion that Les Bleus are being punished for Thierry Henry’s infamous handball.

Fifa insist however that had no bearing on their decision — but they have abandoned their previous practice and used rankings alone rather than also taking into account performances at previous finals.

Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke insisted there was no agenda against France.

Valcke said: “In the past the seedings have been determined by a mixture of world rankings and performances in past World Cups but this time the feeling was the October rankings most closely represented the best teams in the tournament.”

The draw for the finals, being staged in South Africa next summer, will be made in a 90-minute ceremony starting at 5pm on Friday.

The 32 teams will be drawn into four groups of eight. Apart from the seeds, teams will be placed in pots which will largely avoid teams from the same continent meeting each other.

Pot One will comprise the eight top seeds with South Africa already sure to play in Group A and in the opening match at Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium on June 11th.

The second pot will comprise eight teams from Asia, North and Central America and Oceania.

The third pot will be the five other African countries and three remaining South American nations while the final pot is made up of the eight remaining teams from Europe.

Pots for Friday’s draw

Pot 1 (seeds)

South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Holland, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England.

Pot 2 (Asia, Oceania and North/Central America)

Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Mexico, Honduras.

Pot 3 (Africa and South America)

Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay.

Pot 4 (Europe)

France, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Greece, Serbia, Denmark, Slovakia.