World Cup Qualifying European Playoff Draw
Final Places for 2010 World Cup Up for Grabs in Playoffs
Oct 19, 2009
The eight countries that finished second in qualifying groups 1-8 will do battle over two legs to determine who gets the last four places in next summers World Cup – the first to be held on the continent of Africa. The first legs will be played on Saturday 14th of November with the second legs taking place four days later on Wednesday 18th.
World Cup Playoff Seedings
Days before the draw for the Playoffs were made, the eight nations were split into two groups of four seeded teams and four unseeded teams.
The seedings were determined by each countries individual FIFA rankings and saw France (9), Portugal (10), Russia (12) and Greece (16) seeded while Ukraine (22), Republic of Ireland (34), Bosnia-Herzegovina (42) and Slovenia (49) were left unseeded.
This meant that the four seeded teams wouldn’t be able to face each other in the playoff stage, thus making it harder for the unseeded nations to gain qualification to the World Cup. Some pundits believe that FIFA have only used seedings for the draw to help protect the bigger nations and, in turn, protect the commercial value of next summer’s huge event.
However, FIFA has stated that it was always their intention to use seedings in the playoffs and that their system hasn’t changed due to the unexpected involvement of big nations such as France and Portugal.
World Cup Playoff Draw
The draw for the European section World Cup playoff draw is as follows:
Republic of Ireland v France
Portugal v Bosnia-Herzegovina
Greece v Ukraine
Russia v Slovenia
Immediately, the standout tie of the draw was the pairing of Republic of Ireland and France. The French were expected to qualify automatically from their group but had to settle for a playoff spot following an unsteady campaign that saw Serbia end up winning the group. The draw is a worst case scenario for France who were hoping for an easier tie given their rocky form, but instead will undergo a tough trip to Dublin before the second leg in Paris.
The draw against the '98 World Champions will not faze the Irish though who are riding high under the guidance of Italian coach Giovanni Trappatoni. Of all eight teams in the playoffs, Ireland are the only one to not suffer a defeat in the group stages and will be confident of progressing to the finals.
The tightest tie of the playoffs pits Greece against Ukraine in a double header that could be very close and possibly decided by the odd goal. Both sides performed well in their respective groups but Greece will be disappointed that they could win a group that looked the easiest on paper.
Elsewhere, Russia take on Slovenia in a tie that should see the Russians qualify comfortably. Slovenia done well to get this far, considering their tricky group, and scrambled in late thanks to an away win in Slovakia. However, smart money would be on the classy Russians to get through and can consider themselves unlucky not to have qualified having been narrowly pipped by Germany.
Portugal’s Troubled World Cup Campaign
Another surprise inclusion in the World Cup playoffs are Portugal. The Portuguese had a torrid time in qualifying group one and were fortunate to eventually escape with second place.
Finishing behind Denmark, Portugal scraped in ahead of Sweden and Hungary to secure a playoff spot that will see them take on the highly impressive Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Bosnians are one of the fastest rising nations in world football and finished second only to Spain in their group leaving both Turkey and Belgium trailing in their wake.
The first leg being in Portugal will certainly favour Bosnia and their dangerous striking duo of Edin Dzeko and Vedad Ibisevic will cause the shaky Portuguese defence a lot of problems. This tie could easily turn out to be the biggest surprise of the playoffs and, although few would bet against Portugal, don’t be surprised if Bosnia make it to South Africa for next years finals instead of Portugal.
