Eight teams seeded for World Cup draw
Eight teams have been seeded for Friday's much awaited World Cup 2006 draw. The list includes England, holders Brazil, Spain, hosts Germany, Italy, Mexico, France and Argentina. England will now avoid meeting those countries in the group stages when the main draw for the tournament is made in Leipzig on Friday evening.
Under the seeding system used by Fifa, England came out second to Brazil and Italy narrowly beat the US into eighth. Fifa's ranking co-efficient meant that performances at the 2002 World Cup, when England reached the quarter-finals, were given twice as much weight as at 1998. They also took into account a country's world ranking over the last three years.
They also took into account a country's world ranking over the last three years.
SEEDINGS TABLE
Brazil 64
England 51
Spain 50
Germany 48
Mexico 47
France 46
Argentina 44
Italy 44
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