Thriller In The Making; Ronaldo and Messi could end up in the same group at the World Cup!!!

A possibility of the two premier footballers meeting in the group stage just arose. A match many had expected to hold at the later stages of the world cup looks likely to happen in the group stages..
France, as the lowest ranked European side, had been expected to balance up the four pots of eight by taking the last place in Pot 2 with the African countries and non-seeded South Americans.

Instead, a summit of the six FIFA confederation chiefs, of whom Frenchman Platini is the most influential, decided that a draw involving all nine non-seeded Euro countries should determine which team relocates from Pot 4.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said: 'The draw is a draw and that is why we have to have it. Let us not pick teams and assign them.'

In addition, the draw has been tweaked to ensure that one of the four South American seeds - Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay - will be in the same group as the European team that is moved into Pot 2.

The upshot is that Portugal are now more likely to face a nightmare scenario of being drawn against one of the top seeds in Brazil and Argentina as well as one of the unseeded Euro superpowers in Italy or Holland. And even the weakest group on paper - Pot 3 - could present a challenge to England with the likes of the United States, Mexico or Japan, who beat the fancied Belgium last month, tricky potential opponents.

The worst draw for Portugal would be a group including Brazil, Italy and the United States, but a draw against Argentina, Holland and Japan would be almost as difficult.

The pot divisions

Pot one:Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Uruguay, Switzerland

Pot two:Chile, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Algeria, Nigeria, Cameroon, (+1 team from Pot four)

Pot three:Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras, USA

Pot four:Bosnia, Croatia, England, France, Greece, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Russia (-1 team)

A pre-draw will be held to move one of the nine European teams into Pot 2.

That European team will then be drawn against one of the four seeded South American teams to preserve the geographical balance of the draw.

The four South American seeds: Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Argentina will form a temporary Pot X.

The three teams not drawn against the European team in Pot 2 will return to the main draw.

Get ready for the final before final.
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