2010 Seeding Formula: August 2007 update

The new FIFA rankings are out for August, so it's once again time to look ahead to the next World Cup. This will start to get really exciting with the December edition, after the qualifying draws are done in late November. That's also the first month of the three that get locked into place for the rankings half of the formula. Top 7 teams seeded (South Africa automatically seeded as hosts) Total WC FIFA 1 Brazil 61.3 29.3 32 2 Germany 58.3 30.3 28 3 Italy 57.3 27.3 30 4 France 52.3 23.3 29 5 Argentina 52.0 21.0 31 6 Spain 50.3 25.3 25 7 England 47.3 26.3 21 8 Portugal 45.3 22.3 23 9 Mexico 41.3 19.3 22 10 Netherlands 40.7 14.7 26 11 Croatia 36.0 9.0 27 12 Ukraine 34.7 16.7 18 13 Czech 30.0 6.0 24 14 USA 29.7 13.7 16 15 Paraguay 22.2 11.7 10.5 16 Japan 20.3 13.3 7 16 Serbia 20.3 5.3 15 18 Romania 20.0 0.0 20 18 Cameroon 20.0 3.0 17 20 Korea 19.7 15.7 4 21 Greece 19.0 0.0 19 22 Cote d'Ivoire 18.0 6.0 12 23 Uruguay 16.7 2.7 14 23 Tunisia 16.7 8.7 8 25 Australia 16.3 11.3 5 26 Nigeria 15.7 2.7 13 27 Iran 11.3 5.3 6 28 Saudi Arabia 11.0 8.0 3 29 Colombia 10.5 0.0 10.5 30 Costa Rica 10.3 8.3 2 31 Morocco 9.0 0.0 9 32 South Africa 4.0 3.0 1 Tunisia and Saudi Arabia are in the formula this month in place of Ghana and Uzbekistan. Portugal's slight drop in the FIFA rankings causes them to drop to 8th. Their draw against Armenia can't help for next month. Teams like Croatia and Czech Republic may be high in the formula, but they have no real shot due to their poor World Cup performance. They're about as high as they can get currently. For an FAQ on these rankings and links to previous editions, see this link. Probably the biggest thing that can affect this rankings is the UEFA pots for the November draw. For instance, Spain right now would be in the second pot which means that they could easily draw Italy, England, France, or Germany. UEFA qualifying involves lots of good teams and not a lot of games. For more on the pots as they stand now, click here. Mock Draw Pot 1: Argentina, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain Pot 2: Croatia, Czech Republic, Greece, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine Pot 3: Cameroon, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, Morocco, Nigeria, Paraguay, Tunisia, Uruguay Pot 4: Australia, Costa Rica, Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, USA Group A: South Africa, Ukraine, Colombia, USA Group B: Spain, Czech Republic, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia Group C: Germany, Serbia, Morocco, Costa Rica Group D: Argentina, Netherlands, Cameroon, Japan Group E: England, Croatia, Uruguay, Mexico Group F: Italy, Greece, Cote d'Ivoire, Australia Group G: France, Romania, Paraguay, Korea Group H: Brazil, Portugal, Tunisia, Iran