The United States was named one of six seeded teams for the 2015 Women's World Cup draw. The U.S. is ranked No. 1 in the FIFA World Rankings so it is no surprise that they have been seeded and it is now official.
USWNT seeded for 2015 Women’s World Cup draw
The U.S. has been placed in Pot 1 along with five other teams, setting them up nicely for Saturday’s draw.
Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Joining the U.S. as seeded teams in Pot 1 are Canada, Brazil, France, Germany and Japan. The seeding was determined by the World Rankings with the exception of Canada, which is seeded automatically on account of being the hosts, and Brazil, who are ranked No. 6, but leaped No. 5 Sweden for geographical reasons. Canada have also already been put in Group A, again because they are hosts.
The teams in Pot 1 cannot be drawn against each other in the group stage. That is a huge advantage and will make them all favorites to finish stop their groups, possibly with the exception of whoever is drawn with Sweden. Every team in Pot 1 is hoping to be avoid being drawn into the same group as Sweden, as well as highly regarded England.
After the seeded Pot 1, the rest of the pots are determined by geography. Teams from CONCACAF, Oceania and Africa are in Pot 2, while teams from Asia and South America are in Pot 3 and European teams in Pot 4. Teams from the same region cannot be drawn into the same group, with the exception of European teams because some there have to be two groups with two European teams.
Everything is a little bit different for this World Cup and the draw because it is the first time that the competition has 24 teams, having expanded from a 16-team competition. That means there are now six groups, as opposed to four like before.
The draw will take place at noon ET in Ottawa and teams will finally know their path to being crowned World Cup champions.
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