2006 FIFA World Cup seeding

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To calculate the seeding for the 2006 FIFA World Cup , FIFA used the FIFA World Rankings in combination with performances of national teams in the two previous World Cups. [1]

Contents

Points were allocated on the basis of 32 for the best achieving of the 32 qualifiers for 2006 FIFA World Cup in each of the five fields considered, down to one for the lowest ranking.

The seedings table uses these points obtained from the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2002 FIFA World Cup averaged in a 1:2 ratio respectively, added to the average number of points derived from the World Rankings at three given dates (at ratio 1:1:1), December 2003, December 2004, and November 2005. This generates a view of how well the teams have performed over the last ten years (since the rankings in 2003 include results from eight years prior to that) with a specific focus on how the teams have performed in the FIFA World Cup on previous occasions. Significant differences between this ranking of the teams and the official FIFA rankings at the time of the draw can be seen for Czech Republic, Germany and South Korea (ρ=0.87).

SeedCountry1. FIFA World Cup Finals2. FIFA World RankingsTotal Points
France 1998
(33.3%)
Korea Japan 2002
(66.7%)
Avg.
Points
Dec 2003
(33.3%)
Dec 2004
(33.3%)
Nov 2005
(33.3%)
Avg.
Points
RkPt.RkPt.RkPt.RkPt.RkPt.
1Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil 23113231.713213213232.063.7
2Flag of England.svg  England 92462726.082582592424.750.7
3Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 17952821.733052862728.350.0
4Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 72623129.312221919161920.049.3
5Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 1320112221.372672672626.047.3
6Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France 13228816.023123152830.046.0
7Flag of Italy (2003-2006).svg  Italy 528151821.310241023122223.044.3
8Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 62718915.052833042929.044.0
9Flag of the United States.svg  United States 32882519.31123112282523.342.7
10Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 429-09.742962733028.738.3
11Flag of South Korea (1997-2011).svg  South Korea 30842922.022162217291315.337.3
12Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 31892418.729121720152017.336.0
13Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden -0132013.319191321142120.333.7
14Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 33023916.020182316201717.033.0
15Flag of Paraguay (1990-2013).svg  Paraguay 1419161717.722173012301213.731.3
16Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic -0-00.062742923129.029.0
17Flag of Portugal (official).svg  Portugal -02196.01721924102322.728.7
18Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica -01996.017202714211616.722.7
19Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia 2883288.026142813321112.720.7
20Flag of Poland.svg  Poland -02585.325152515231515.020.3
21Flag of Iran.svg  Iran 209-03.028132018191816.319.3
22Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia 2682988.04583511281411.019.0
23Flag of Ecuador (1900-2009).svg  Ecuador -02496.03711391037910.016.0
24Flag of Yugoslavia (1992-2003); Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2003-2006).svg  Serbia and Montenegro 1023-07.741104684768.015.7
25Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland -0-00.044951736108.78.7
26Flag of Ukraine.svg  Ukraine -0-00.06075764087.07.0
27Flag of Cote d'Ivoire.svg  Ivory Coast -0-00.07054094177.07.0
28Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia -0-00.08235854954.34.3
29Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago -0-00.07066345134.34.3
30Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana -0-00.07847725043.33.3
31Flag of Angola.svg  Angola -0-00.08327236212.02.0
32Flag of Togo (3-2).svg  Togo -0-00.09418915621.31.3
SeedCountryRkPt.RkPt.Avg.
Points
RkPt.RkPt.RkPt.Avg.
Points
Total Points
France 1998
(33.3%)
Korea Japan 2002
(66.7%)
Dec 2003
(33.3%)
Dec 2004
(33.3%)
Nov 2005
(33.3%)
1. FIFA World Cup Finals2. FIFA World Rankings

System change

Unlike the 2002 FIFA World Cup seeding system which used performances of national teams in the three previous World Cups, this seeding system only used the last two. Had Denmark not failed to qualify, they would have been seeded at the expense of Argentina. [2]

Progress of seeded teams

All 8 seeded teams qualified for the knockout stages of the tournament, but France and Mexico failed to win their groups, and so had to play other seeded teams in the second round. Mexico lost to Argentina, and France beat Spain, so while Spain and Mexico were eliminated earlier than the seedings would have predicted, Ukraine and Portugal went further than the seedings predicted, Portugal going on to reach the semi-finals.

Criticisms

References