Is there a case to be made for a pre-ordained placing system to be used at the World Cup, rather than the current open draw?
You could retain the apparent need for geographical separation, but do what they do in the Rugby, and set out beforehand that eg the top seed in Group B will meet UEFA #3, CONCACAF #2 and CAF #4, rather than just a random team from those continents as now?
Each continent could work out its own system for ranking qualifiers (CONCACAF and CONMEBOL's are ready-made), and you could make sure that (at least in theory) the strongest qualifiers from each didn't get lumped together. Also, it would potentially make the qualifiers themselves a bit more lively as teams knew where they stood in the finals draw?
You could retain the apparent need for geographical separation, but do what they do in the Rugby, and set out beforehand that eg the top seed in Group B will meet UEFA #3, CONCACAF #2 and CAF #4, rather than just a random team from those continents as now?
Each continent could work out its own system for ranking qualifiers (CONCACAF and CONMEBOL's are ready-made), and you could make sure that (at least in theory) the strongest qualifiers from each didn't get lumped together. Also, it would potentially make the qualifiers themselves a bit more lively as teams knew where they stood in the finals draw?
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