The Netherlands is one of the eight top seeds for the 2010 World Cup draw.

Football’s world governing body FIFA announced the seeding on Wednesday. It means the Dutch team can’t be drawn against one of the other seeded teams, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Germany, England and host country South Africa.

The seeding system is aimed at spreading the top teams across the groups so they don’t meet each other at the outset of the competition. The top seeds have been selected on the basis of the October world rankings

In the group phase the Netherlands will come up against one country from Europe, one from Africa or South America, and one from Asia, Oceania or North America. The draw will take place in Cape Town on Friday.

Experts disagree on the pros and cons of being among the seeded countries. The Netherlands might get away with playing the likes of Slovakia, Algeria or Honduras, but it could equally have to contend with Portugal, Nigeria or Australia.

The groups will be drawn from four pots, the first of which contains the top seeds:

Pot 1: Netherlands, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Germany, England
Pot 2: Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Mexico, Honduras
Pot 3: Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana, Algeria, Paraguay, Chile and Uruguay
Pot 4: France, Portugal, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Greece, Serbia

One team at a time will be drawn from each pot to produce eight groups in the first round.

Illustration: flickr / shine 2010