France and Portugal miss out on World Cup seedings

The Netherlands were among the eight seeded teams announced Wednesday for the 2010 World Cup at the expense of France and Portugal, whose tournament just got a lot harder. World football's governing body said the seeds were selected according to the FIFA rankings as of October, so Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, defending champions Italy, Germany, Argentina, and England made the grade. South Africa were also seeded in Pot 1 as the host nation and will play the opening game of the tournament on June 11 at Soccer City in Johannesburg. The 63 matches that follow will span South Africa, from Polokwane in the northeast to Cape Town in the southwest, culminating in the final in the capital on July 11. Holland had a great qualifying campaign, like Spain, the first team having won all their matches, so Holland are in Pot 1, explained FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke on why they deserved their seeding. The seedings were decided according to the rankings in October, before that match was played, he added.