Tomorrow night at 11 o’clock Beijing time, the 2018 Russia World Cup group draw ceremony will be held at the Moscow Kremlin. According to FIFA rules, 32 teams “Sister Hua!” Xi Shixun shouted involuntarily, and his whole body was shocked by surprise and excitement. What she meant was to tell him that as long as she could stay with him, she would not be divided into four tiers at all. Among them, the host Russia, as the first-tier seed team, automatically fell into the A1 position, and the other teams were ranked according to the FIFA world rankings in October this year. Enter the first pot (seed team), second pot, third pot and fourth pot in sequence.
However, who would think that these seemingly fair grading conditions are harsh? They all make sense. There is actually a “mystery” behind the rules. In order to improve their rankings, some teams take advantage of loopholes in the rules to “play fewer games and earn more points.” Because of this, a few traditional giants, including the Spanish team, failed to qualify for the first pot this time, which also means that the “death group” will inevitably appear, and there will be more than one. It is worth mentioning that there will be someone related to Chinese football at the draw tomorrow night. He is Guangzhou Evergrande head coach Cannavaro. The 44-year-old Italian will join 7 other heavyweight guests. The top 32 teams were grouped on site.
The Spanish team is not as good as the Polish team?
Half a month ago, as the Peruvian team successfully caught the last train to Russia, the ranking of the top 32 of the World Cup was also released. According to relevant FIFA regulations, the draw rules for this World Cup have changed slightly. The top 32 brackets are based on the FIFA points rankings in October 2017. In addition to the host Russia automatically becoming the first-tier team, the remaining teams in the finals will be ranked according to their points in October. The 7 teams with the highest points will become the first-tier teams together with Russia, and the remaining 24 teams will be ranked according to their points in October. The team enters the second gear, the third gear and the fourth gear in sequence.
After the final tiering situation was released, it was a bit surprising. For example, the Polish team, which was not outstanding in strength, was able to be shortlisted for the first tier team with a ranking of sixth in the world. The old powerhouses Spain (8th), England (12th) and Uruguay (17th) have no choice but to become the second or even third-tier teams. The reason for this is FIFA’s ranking points system. .
In 2006, FIFA reformed the original ranking points system. In the new system, a national team’s final points are determined by comprehensive factors such as all competition results, event coefficients, opponent coefficients, and regional coefficients in the past four years.and other effects. Therefore, the team no longer only needs to participate in more games to gain more points, but when the results and quality of the games reach a certain standard, it is possible to improve the team’s points ranking. Teams such as Poland are using “excellence” Lan Yuhua nodded and gave her a reassuring smile, saying that she knew and would not blame her. “The strategy of the game will be solid and improve her ranking.”
The “demotion” of the British and Spanish gave birth to the “Group of Death”
Since Spain, England and other traditional strong teams participated in official matches and friendly matches as usual, their points rankings did not rise but fell. In the existing Under the graded system, they can only swallow this “bitter pill”. However, FIFA has recognized this loophole. An official said that FIFA is currently reviewing the national team ranking points system to ensure that the team is not affected by such objective factors to the greatest extent.
Although the principle of avoiding the same continent in the draw rules still exists, for UEFA, which has many teams, this time the same group can only have a maximum of two Draw lots based on the principle of a European team. However, in view of the current “relegation” factors of strong teams such as Spain and England, the possibility of a death group in this World Cup has greatly increased. Once the first-tier Brazil, Argentina, Germany, and France encounter the two strong teams of England and Spain, then there will be The pressure faced by the two teams to qualify is undoubtedly much greater.
Perhaps it is the existence of this “risk” that keeps ticket sales for this World Cup booming. According to the British BBC, 2.5 million tickets are expected to be sold for this World Cup. The first phase of ticket sales before the draw ceremony was quite good. So far, 742,760 tickets have been successfully sold. Data shows that 53% of the ticket buyers From Russia itself. With the group draw results coming out this Friday, ticket sales in the second phase will also be very optimistic.
Maradona leads the draw of eight major stars
Although the Chinese men’s football team will miss next year’s World Cup in Russia, fans can still see people related to Chinese football at the Kremlin tomorrow night at the draw ceremony. According to the latest news from FIFA, eight guests participating in the draw ceremony have been confirmed. They are Maradona, Cannavaro, Puyol, Blanco, Cafu, Forlan, Banks and Russia. of Simoyan. Evergrande coach Cannavaro is undoubtedly the one who has the most connection with Chinese football. “It’s delicious, not inferior to Aunt Wang’s craftsmanship.” Mother Pei nodded with a smile. A close one.
Among these eight guests, Maradona, Cannavaro, Puyol, Blanco, Cafu and goalkeeper Banks have all helped their country win the trophy. Winning the World Cup, Forlan represented Uruguay in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, and led Uruguay to the semi-finals in 2010. Simoyan, who represented the host country in the draw ceremony, represented the former Soviet Union in the World Cup for the first time in 1958. He is 91 years old this year.
FIFA also announced that Klose, the legendary German star and top scorer in World Cup history, will attend the draw ceremony and will bring the Hercules Cup to the Kremlin on behalf of the German team. . Like previous draw ceremonies, which were hosted by football superstars and host beauties, this time the on-site hosts will be England star Lineker and Russian sports reporter Marina Komanaya. In an interview, Lineker, who has represented England in two World Cups, said that this is a supreme honor for him. Participating in the World Cup in this way is a bitter pill that he had never thought about swallowing with tears before. .