World Cup Finals Draw

[Thaumagurist*]

Spacey's enduring love and respect

That's something they will never win.

[Dirk Gently]

Spacey's enduring love and respect

That's something they will never win.

[AbovetheI]

Expect the usual from a dull French speaking bloke and his fancy looking english speaking co-host. 5 hours of drab leading up to the eventual draw.

[papereyes]

They're dancing on the streets of Exeter

One: Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain.

Two: Australia, Honduras, Japan, Korea DPR, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, USA.

Three: Algeria, Cameroon, Chile, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Paraguay, Uruguay.

Four: Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland.

Of course, this could backfire should England and France be drawn in the same group but I'm sure that was obvious to the Spacefiller.

[Stranded]

They're dancing on the streets of Exeter

One: Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain.

Two: Australia, Honduras, Japan, Korea DPR, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, USA.

Three: Algeria, Cameroon, Chile, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Paraguay, Uruguay.

Four: Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland.

Of course, this could backfire should England and France be drawn in the same group but I'm sure that was obvious to the Spacefiller.

Best Scenario (for me) then:

England
Honduras
Algeria
Switzerland

Worst

England
USA
Ivory Coast
France

[papereyes]

Pot 2 is quite schizophrenic

Australia, USA (on confederations cup form), even Japan, S. Korea, Mexico could be tough

while

everyone would want to be drawn with Honduras or New Zeland.

Is it wrong to suggest there's some dark horses in Pot 3 ...

[Gordons Cumming]

I think USA could upset someone.

The rest of the world?

They're good at that.

[papereyes]

Well, on the basis of their confederations cup performances ...

oh

you're making a joke.

[Toon Toon Blue army]

Could be really tough for a lot of teams to qualify who expect to. Even pot 4 has Denmark, France, Greece and Portugal in it.

I really can't wait now! Couldn't give a toss how England do although I would like them to do well, just hope the press don't ruin it like every World Cup, but thats a lot to hope for I suppose

[Thaumagurist*]

Couldn't give a toss how England do although I would like them to do well,

A bit contradictory.

Your name isn't Jamie Hinton, is it?

[Stranded]

Could be really tough for a lot of teams to qualify who expect to. Even pot 4 has Denmark, France, Greece and Portugal in it.
I really can't wait now! Couldn't give a toss how England do although I would like them to do well, just hope the press don't ruin it like every World Cup, but thats a lot to hope for I suppose

Pot 4 is European sides - it's not like the Champions League where all sides are seeded 1 to 32 and split in to pots accordingly.

[papereyes]

Couldn't give a toss how England do although I would like them to do well,

A bit contradictory.

Your name isn't Jamie Hinton, is it?

I'd like to stop the board for a second just to illustrate this post in all its glory.

[Compo's Hat]

5.15 Friday BBC2 means i'll miss this as i'll be travelling home from work.

[T.R.O.L.I.]

TBF, Compo, draws are dull anyway - you'd be better off taking a portable radio and listening to 5Live if you're that concerned - they'll be in the middle of their drivetime show but they'll probably cut to the draw once all the pre-amble is finished.

[soggy biscuit]

5.15 Friday BBC2 means i'll miss this as i'll be travelling home from work.

5:15 will probably mean 6:15 as FIFA are running it

[1960]

There's always piles of baloney until they get down to the draw itself. It's no good everyone jetting off to S Africa, then finding it's all over in 10 minutes.

And good to see that England are seeded. It seems so random that teams who have to play off (France & Portugal) should be seeds, so just for once FIFA have done something sensible. In 2002 England qualified, but weren't seeded, whereas Germany, who had to go into the play-offs from England's group, were seeded. Ridiculous. Also going back 8 years, as FIFA used to, means that they were looking at a good team who could be crap now, or vice versa. 8 years is far too long ago.

[Compo's Hat]

TBF, Compo, draws are dull anyway - you'd be better off taking a portable radio and listening to 5Live if you're that concerned - they'll be in the middle of their drivetime show but they'll probably cut to the draw once all the pre-amble is finished.

Reception will be dump on the train i bet, will stick to the mobile internet.

[1871 Royal]

One: Argentina, Brazil, England, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain.

Two: Australia, Honduras, Japan, Korea DPR, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, USA.

Three: Algeria, Cameroon, Chile, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Paraguay, Uruguay.

Four: Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland.

Blue = Yes please for England
Green = OK for England, not too tough but probably some good matches
Red = No thanks, really would be crap for England

Other notible teams I would like England to get are New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovenia and Slovakia

[Ark Royal]

Shit. I will be flying across the pond when the draw is made and I doubt if they will announce it on my US Airline flight as it is not the Supertoiletbowl which, as everyone knows, is a 'world championship'.

[Barry the bird boggler]

From Yahoo site...

World Cup - Theron 'draws' Ireland at World Cup
Eurosport - Wed, 02 Dec 17:42:00 2009

Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron had some fun at FIFA's expense during a trial run for Friday's World Cup draw when she 'drew' Ireland.

The South African, whose long-term boyfriend is Irish actor Stuart Townsend, made the tongue-in-cheek gesture just one day after FIFA rejected Ireland's appeal to be added to the competition as a 33rd team.

The Irish made the request after France's Thierry Henry was clearly seen handling the ball before setting up William Gallas for the winning goal in the play-off between the two sides.

Theron will co-host Friday's draw with FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke, and Valcke confirmed that Theron pulled Ireland instead of France out of the bowl during rehearsal.

"Yes, she did, but it was only a joke," he said.

The 90-minute show will be televised live to an estimated global audience of more than 200 million people in 200 countries.

She will help place the 32 finalists into eight groups of four teams for the tournament which runs from June 11 to July 11.

The show will include an African musical spectacular, including gospel and jazz.

A host of sporting celebrities will also take part in the draw including Ethiopia's Olympic champion runner Haile Gebrselassie, England midfielder David Beckham, South Africa footballer Matthew Booth and cricketer Makhaya Ntini, and the host country's rugby World Cup captain John Smit.

South African president Jacob Zuma will be in the audience along with Nobel Peace prize winners FW de Klerk and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.