England look set to be World Cup seeds

England are banking on being one of the top seeded teams for next years World Cup in South Africa. Their seeding will depend on how much weight FIFA gives to the most recent ranking which if they did would have England missing out on a top 8 seed as these are currently occupied by

1.Spain
2.Brazil
3.Holland
4.Italy
5.Portugal
6.Germany
7.France
8.Argentina

With South Africa also guaranteed a seed, England would have faced the high risk of being drawn against one of the big boys in the opening rounds.

FIFA however seems to have thrown England a lifeline by indicating recent form will not factor highly in the seeding. A Fifa spokesman said: “If the criteria to determine the seeded teams were to include, as in the past, the Fifa world ranking, then it would be the October 2009 edition of this ranking which would be considered — and this for sporting reasons.

“Using the November 2009 edition would create an uneven situation, specifically for the European zone, where the play-offs involving the eight best runners-up led to an imbalance in the number of qualification matches played between the teams.”

This opens the possibility of England bagging a top speed an avoiding heavyweights such as Brazil, Germany, Italy or Spain