nzherald.co.nz will have live coverage of the World Cup draw from 6am on Saturday.
The New Zealand Football delegation touched down in South Africa today ready to learn the All Whites' soccer World Cup opposition at a star-studded final draw in Cape Town on Saturday.
On Wednesday, FIFA announced the seven seeded teams - based on FIFA world ranking - to join hosts South
Africa in the main pot, and the make-up of each of the other pots from which eight groups of four teams will be randomly drawn.
As seeds, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England and hosts South Africa will be kept apart during the group stage, with one team drawn from each of the remaining three pots to complete their pools.
The only restrictions imposed of the draw are that no more than two Europeans teams, and no more than one nation from any other confederation can be drawn into the same group.
New Zealand was placed in pot B, alongside teams from Asia and Concacaf (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) - ruling out any possibility of a fans-choice match-up with Australia - with pot C comprising the non-seeded African and South American nations and the remaining eight European qualifiers filling pot D.
All Whites assistant coach Brian Turner and NZF chairman Frank van Hattum were happy to get a little more clarity around the types of opposition (European, African or South American) the All Whites would face next June, but Turner said he and coach Ricki Herbert aren't fazed by their pot or potential match-ups.
"There's no real surprises in the draw, in that there's always some big names that miss being seeded and this time it's France and Portugal," Turner said. "But the tournament is such that there are genuine contenders to win the World Cup in each of the pots."
"Whatever happens, we're going to get three very tough teams, we could even draw three former World Cup winners, but we won't be taking a backward step against anyone."
Co-hosted by Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron, the glitzy event will boast football legends Franz Beckenbauer, Michel Platini, Eusebio, Luis Figo, Roger Milla, David Beckham, and Ruud Gullit among the guests as well as Ethiopian distance-runner Haile Gebrselassie, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former South African leader FW de Klerk.
2010 FIFA World Cup draw (6am Saturday NZT):
Pot A (seeded teams): South Africa (hosts), Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England.
Pot B (Asia, Oceania, Concacaf): Australia, Japan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Honduras, Mexico, USA, New Zealand.
Pot C (Africa, South America): Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay.
Pot D (Europe): Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland,
- NZPA
