2005-10-07 - 2006 World Cup Qualifying - European Playoffs
According to the latest news it seems teams will be ranked according to their FIFA ranking
when it comes to the playoff draw that will take place on 14 October.
The three teams with the highest FIFA ranking for September will be
seeded and will each play a team that isn't seeded. This means that if
teams such as England and Spain enter the playoffs they'll have a big
advantage. Although I sort of agree with this, it seems extraordinary
to introduce this rule at this stage. Surely such a rule should have
been set at the beginning of the qualifying competition! Reading this
news certainly makes me annoyed as this is the first time that this has
happened with the playoffs. In the past the draw has always been made
in a random manner, and officials have always stated that these draws
should give everyone a fair chance. Call me a cynic but surely this is
purely because England and Spain are in danger at this stage of missing
out for the World Cup. I guess the commercial aspects of football are
once again coming out. Surely the World Cup is about finding the 'best'
32 nations, or rather the best nations from each continent (given the
flawed qualifying system...). If England were to have been drawn
against Spain, surely this is because they weren't good enough to
qualify from their respective groups! Do they deserve any further help
to make them qualify? If you're English or Spanish maybe, but ... Both
nations were already, in my opinion, in relatively easy qualifying
groups! Thankfully they've at least retained the home and away draw,
perhaps still giving the advantage to the lower ranked team if they
play the second match at home...
Although in principle I'd like to see the best teams at the World Cup
(and not just the best teams from each continent), I'd like to see both
England and Spain miss out through the qualifiers to see what the
reaction will be. Will there be another rule change to give them
another chance??? 
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