Have been playing around with a “World Cup group stage draws simulator” today. The random European team that will be moved from the 4th pot to the second pot have the potential to provide some real drama.
Instead of moving the lowest ranked team from the FIFA ranking (France) to the second pot it will be a random draw between all the nine teams. That opens up for some really tough groups if one of the European heavyweights is moved.
How would you like a group like this?
Argentina
England
USA
Holland
or
Brazil
Italy
Mexico
Portugal
In the first pot Switzerland and perhaps Colombia looks like the weakest links.
Not a lot to say about the teams in pot 2. The group that gets the extra European team will feel screwed (especially if it’s one of the top five teams).
From pot 3 it’s all about avoiding Mexico and the US.
Pot 4 can be split in to two. England, France, Italy, Holland and Portugal you want to avoid at all cost. The remaining four teams are all beatable teams.
Instead of moving the lowest ranked team from the FIFA ranking (France) to the second pot it will be a random draw between all the nine teams. That opens up for some really tough groups if one of the European heavyweights is moved.
How would you like a group like this?
Argentina
England
USA
Holland
or
Brazil
Italy
Mexico
Portugal
In the first pot Switzerland and perhaps Colombia looks like the weakest links.
Not a lot to say about the teams in pot 2. The group that gets the extra European team will feel screwed (especially if it’s one of the top five teams).
From pot 3 it’s all about avoiding Mexico and the US.
Pot 4 can be split in to two. England, France, Italy, Holland and Portugal you want to avoid at all cost. The remaining four teams are all beatable teams.
