© EuroFootball.com
The International Football Federation on Tuesday divided the 32 participants of the 2006 World Cup into four baskets of eight each. On Friday, the draw will take place for the groups of next year's summer tournament in Germany.
The eight teams with the most points according to a special classification, considering FIFA World Team rankings and performances in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, ended up in basket 1 - alongside Germany and defending champions Brazil, Italy, France, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, and England.
The other baskets were divided by geographical location. Basket 2 includes Australia, five African teams - Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, and Tunisia - and two lower-ranked South American teams - Ecuador and Paraguay.
In basket 3, there are eight European countries: Croatia, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and Ukraine, while basket 4 includes four Asian teams - Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea, as well as three CONCACAF teams - Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, and the USA.
The only remaining participant, Serbia and Montenegro, which has the lowest ranking among all Old Continent teams, was placed in a special basket and will join a group with one South American team from the first basket - Brazil, Argentina, or Mexico.
The draw was based on the last three years of FIFA World Team rankings and the last two World Cup final tournaments. Germany will play in Group A, while Brazil will be in Group F - this decision was made for economic reasons because these teams will play in larger stadiums, said FIFA tournament director Jim Brown.
On Friday, December 9, in a solemn draw ceremony at the Leipzig Trade Fair Centre, led by supermodel Heidi Klum and television host Reinhold Beckmann, one team from each basket (except the special one) will be placed in different groups from A to H.
The World Cup final tournament will begin exactly half a year after the draw ceremony, on June 9, 2006. The most anticipated sports event in the world, surpassing even the Olympic Games, will last a month and end with the final match at Berlin's Olympic Stadium.
