Visit the 2010 World Cup Online Schedule.
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The FIFA 2010 World Cup draw will break apart the 32 qualified nations into eight groups of four nations. These groups will set the tone for the highly anticipated 2010 World Cup group stage phase. Nations will compete to reach the top 2 places in each group to advance to the round of 16.
Nations will be selected from 4 pre-defined pots based on FIFA ranking and geographic criteria. One team will be selected from each of the four pots to define the eight groups A through H, starting with the seeded countries in Pot 1 and then proceeding through Pots 2 to 4.
The 32 qualified nations have been sorted into four pots:
Pot 1 – Seeded Countries:
South Africa, Germany, Brazil, Italy, Spain, England, Holland, Argentina.
Pot 2: (Nations from Asia, Oceania and North & Central American regions)
Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Mexico, Honduras.
Pot 3 (Nations from Africa and South American regions)
Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay.
Pot 4: (Nations from Europe)
France, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Greece, Serbia, Denmark, Slovakia.
Geo-criteria will be taken into consideration when selecting the nations for each group. For example, no two nations from the same confederation can be drawn into the same group. An exception applies to the European Nations due to the number of European nations in the competition. A maximum of 2 European Nations will be permitted in each group; 5 groups will have 2 European Nations. Outside of this exception, teams such as South Africa will not be grouped with other nations from the African Confederation; the same would apply with teams from South America.
The FIFA Draw Ceremony at the Cape Town International Convention Centre will last aproximately 90 minutes. It is sponsored by Adidas and will be presented by South African Charlize Theron and Englishman David Beckham. The ceremony will also be presented by numerous other famous footballing heros such as Beckenbauer, Platini, Eusebio as well as some special appearances by Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
Several potential groups of death may arise from the draw. The two european Nations France and Portugal will potentially be drawn into the 2 groups of death which may look like this:
Possible Groups of Death:
* Brazil, USA, Nigeria, Portugal
* Argentina, Mexico, Ghana, France
* England, Mexico, Ghana, Portugal
It is also possible that the 2010 World Cup may comprise of one considerably weaker group such as:
* South Africa, New Zealand, Algeria, Slovenia
* South Africa, North Korea, Algeria, Switzerland
The ceremony is expected to draw a global viewing audience of over 200 million viewers across the globe and massive global media attention.
