CAPE TOWN: The Netherlands were among the eight seeded teams announced here today for the 2010 World Cup at the expense of France and Portugal, whose tournament just got a lot harder.

World football’s governing body said the seeds were selected according to the FIFA rankings as of October, so Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, defending champions Italy, Germany, Argentina, and England made the grade. South Africa were also seeded in Pot 1 as the host nation and will play the opening game of the tournament on June 11 in Johannesburg.

The 63 matches that follow will span South Africa, from Polokwane to Cape Town, culminating in the final in the capital on July 11. The seeding criteria differs from the last World Cup in Germany when they were allocated on team’s world rankings over the past three years, with performances at the previous two tournaments also taken into account.

France and Portugal’s omission puts them in Pot 4 along with the rest of the UEFA contingent, including Denmark, Greece, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, and Switzerland. It means they will be drawn in the same group as one of the seeds here on Friday when who they play and where they play will be decided in a ceremony.

Every draw delivers at least one ‘Group of Death’ and placing France with Brazil, and perhaps Australia or Mexico and Chile or Paraguay, would certainly fit that bill.

“Holland had a great qualifying campaign, like Spain, the first team having won all their matches, so Holland are in Pot 1,” explained FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke on why they deserved their seeding.

He denied France being relegated from the seeds had anything to do with the controversial way they qualified, with Thierry Henry’s handball putting them through at the expense of Ireland.