Post by Salem6 on Dec 6, 2005 13:03:36 GMT
England have been placed among the top eight seeds for the 2006 World Cup.
Sven-Goran Eriksson's side are in a top pool of hosts Germany, holders Brazil as well as Argentina, France, Italy, Spain and Mexico.
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 while Italy narrowly beat the US into eighth.
Fifa's ranking co-effiecient saw performances at the 2002 World Cup, when England reached the quarter-finals, given twice as much weight as at 1998.
They also took into account a country's world ranking over the last three years.
"It's excellent news," Eriksson told the English Football Association website.
"I think it's right too. We are one of the teams that have the potential to do very well in Germany and we have some of the best players in the world.
"Finishing top of our qualification group with the second best record in the whole of Europe was a big achievement and I'm sure that has played a part in this decision."
Serbia & Montenegro were the lowest placed European qualifier and have been placed in a special pot to stop three countries from the zone being in the same group.
For the draw on Friday, around 3,700 people will be present in the auditorium at the huge trade fair hall in Leipzig's Neue Messe exhibition centre.
It is being transformed into a football stadium for the occasion.
The World Cup finals in Germany begins on 9 June 2006 and the final takes place in Munich on 9 July.
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POT ONE
Germany (hosts)
Brazil (holders)
Argentina
England
France
Italy
Mexico
Spain
POT TWO
Australia
Angola
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Togo
Tunisia
Ecuador
Paraguay
POT THREE
Croatia
Czech Republic
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Sweden
Switzerland
Ukraine
POT FOUR
Iran
Japan
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Costa Rica
Trinidad & Tobago
US
Special pot: Sebria & Montenegro
news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/4356050.stm