England unseeded for World Cup draw
England will be among an unseeded pot of European countries for Friday's draw for the 2014 World Cup finals, organisers have confirmed.
As expected the eight seeded teams, who will be kept apart for the group stage, have been chosen according to October's world rankings.
The draw will ensure no more than two European teams are in any group of four countries, and all the South American teams will be kept apart.
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 two will return to the main draw.
World Cup pots:
Pot one: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay;
Pot two: Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Chile, Ecuador (plus one currently in pot four);
Pot three: Australia, Iran, Japan, Korea, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, USA;
Pot four: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia (one team will be drawn into pot two).
