Brazil (hosts)
1Spain
2Germany
3Argentina
4Columbia
5Belgium
6Uruguay
7Switzerland
8Netherlands

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"Some people here have been groomed to accept mediocrity and lame ducks, I'm on board with the vibrato!" -SouthSoundHawk
"BFS is kicking ass in here." -kearly (8/9/2013)

Can somebody explain why Brazil isn't considered one of the 8? And how that works? I get that the host country is automatic but Brazil is surely a top 8 side.

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"Some people here have been groomed to accept mediocrity and lame ducks, I'm on board with the vibrato!" -SouthSoundHawk
"BFS is kicking ass in here." -kearly (8/9/2013)

Uruguay is not even in the World Cup yet... But the rest sounds about right.

Sounds like Holland gets their spot if they end up losing to Jordan.

Posted this as another thread, but still kind of cool...
http://ultra-zone.net/2014-FIFA-World-Cup-Group-Stage-Draws

they are just ranked 11 by FIFA... much like the power rankings for the NFL (although there is some math involved) its pretty subjective.

Brazil didnt have to go through qualifying so its difficult to see how they would have fared against teams like Colmbia, Uruguay, Argentina, etc... they were less than awesome in friendlies, but hardly a true judge of strength.

They will be a major force in the World Cup

How do they figure the eventual groups? Is it random draw, or is there a formula?

Also, as first-place finishers in the CONCACAF qualifiers, are there any perks to that even though we aren't a top seed?

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"Well, I like the 49ers because they're pure of heart, Seattle because they've got something to prove, and the Raiders because they always cheat."

-Lisa Simpson

Well, at least Lisa got two of three right.

POT 1 is basically the number 1 seeds. the rest are regional. POT 2 is CONCACAF and Asia, POT 4 is Europe, POT 3 is South America and Africa.

Winning CONCACAF doesnt help (unless I missed something) unless you get a 1 seed. They randonly pick a all the 1 seeds, then the from POT 2, POT 3 and finally POT 4 (which is really exciting because those teams are typically very good, and watching to see which 1 seed gets drawn with the top European teams can dictate the first stage of the tournament)

There may be some other nuances I am missing as far as each POT, but i'm fairly certain its that simple

Oh, I see. So they just will pick a team from each POT randomly to make up groups once the rest of the teams are cemented.

In other words, we could end up in a group with Spain, Brazil, and England, theoretically.

Ugh.

On the other hand, they should televise the draw and do it like they do the NBA Draft Lottery draw, with giant envelopes with national team logos and everything. I would totally make sure to tune in for that.

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"Well, I like the 49ers because they're pure of heart, Seattle because they've got something to prove, and the Raiders because they always cheat."

-Lisa Simpson

Well, at least Lisa got two of three right.

Oh they televise the s--- out of the draw. Its televised world wide. Each POT and nation has a world celebrity involved in the drawing (Charize Theron represented South Africa the last time out) and it comes with ping pong balls and everything.

Here is part 1 (of 4) of the 2010 draw: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amMAqNklRqw

I'm sure there's more to it (maybe each POT is seeded as well?), but its fairly random and quite a production. EDIT: so in reading it, teams from the same confederation (CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, etc) cannot be drawn together in the same group, except for POT 4 (UEFA: Europe) Because they place the most teams in the tournament the last 8 teams are drawn completely randomly, so 2 UEFA teams can occupy the same POT. Therefore, in this tournament, none of the South American teams will be drawn against each other.

Literally the draw a group (Lets say G) then draw a team from the POT. they repeat this process for each POT. So its not as easy as drawing in order... pretty cool to watch actually

edit: so far with the simulator the US best draw is: Switzerland, B-H and Nigeria.

If they stream this thing, I'll have to watch it! That clip was pretty dang exciting.

Thanks for the information, Si.

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"Well, I like the 49ers because they're pure of heart, Seattle because they've got something to prove, and the Raiders because they always cheat."

-Lisa Simpson

Well, at least Lisa got two of three right.

Switzerland? ! How did I miss Switzerland's rise to World domination?

Belgium looked pretty good against the Scots, and they definitely have some pace out wide, but I don't think that their strikers are all that they are made out to be.

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Machine-wrapped, with butter?

Yes, machine-wrapped, WITH BUTTER

Netherlands #8? OUTRAGEOUS!!!