In a surprise move by Fifa, France are not included in the eight top seeds.
For all the unsavoury international attention they have gained after Thierry Henry's blatant handball put them through in that controversial play-off against Ireland, the French have become even more unpopular albeit this time in a sporting sense.
The 1998 World Cup winners and runners-up in 2006 have become the most dangerous floater in Friday's draw for the 32-nation tournament. They are a team the others want to avoid.
Fifa decided to base the top seeds on its October rankings instead of the Novemebr list which paved the way for England to be included in the top eight, leaving France and Portugal out.
England were ranked No. 7 in October and slipped down to No. 9 in the November rankings with Portugal surging from 10th to fifth and France jumping from ninth to seventh.
So it's a done deal for the World Cup seedings with host nation South Africa grouped with the other top seeds in Pot 1 -- Brazil, Spain, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England and Holland.
The other pot draws:
Pot 2 comprises eight teams from Asia, North and Central America and Oceania -- Australia, Honduras, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, North Korea, South Korea and United States.
Pot 3 comprises five other African countries and three remaining South American nations -- Algeria, Cameroon, Chile, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Paraguay and Uruguay.
Pot 4 comprises the eight remaining teams from Europe -- Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Tomorrow's draw in Cape Town will be a nail-biting event that will be broadcast live to more than 200 countries.
Unfortunately, Argentina's Diego Maradona will be the only coach who has to watch the spectacular event on TV. He has been banned by Fifa for two months for his tirade against newsmen after his team's qualification for the finals.
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