France, the 2006 World Cup runner-up, was not seeded for Friday's World Cup draw raising the question whether the Bleus were punished for the Thierry Henry handball that led to their qualification. "I am asking myself if this is not a sanction for the handball of Henry," Michael Hidalgo, the former French national team coach, told RTL radio. "It is an injustice. It looks like France is being sanctioned."

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, who is French, said France's lackluster qualifying campaign led to its placement in the top with seven other unseeded European teams. The seedings were based on the October FIFA rankings. Previously, past results in World Cups were included in the formula used to seed teams.

The placement of the teams raises the possibility of four teams in the top 14 in the FIFA rankings -- Spain, France, Cameroon and the United States -- being drawn in the same group on Friday.

 

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