The World Cup Draw

The excitement starts now… 17.00 BST sees the draw made for the groups in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. England could end up with New Zealand, Algeria, and Greece – or we could get Australia, Ivory Coast, and Portugal…

The draw will be made at 17.00 and is scheduled to take 90 minutes; though the actual draw itself will only take around 10 minutes. We would guess tune in at around 17.30 for the balls being drawn – but don’t hold us responsible if you miss it. Here are the pots from which the groups will be drawn – one from each:

Pot 1 (seeds): South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England

Pot 2 (Asia, Oceania and North/Central America): Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Mexico, Honduras

Pot 3 (Africa and South America): Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay

Pot 4 (Europe): France, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Greece, Serbia, Denmark, Slovakia

The seeds should be ok, though whichever of them draws France or Portugal in their group will be shifting nervously. South Africa will pray it’s not them – the host team remaining in as long as possible is to pretty much everyone’s benefit, and as a seeded team they do have a good chance of progressing.

England should be ok in the groups – but a must win game against the Ivory Coast, Drogba et al, sends a shiver down the spine.

Fingers crossed…