Quote:
Originally Posted by CroFlames
They do favor the big teams. The big teams are all seeded in the first pot when they do the draw for qualifying.
Italy doesn't get to be a "big team" every year based on the fact they are former world champions. Its why we play the games.
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It's because the FIFA rankings are broken.
You had a Wales and Romania team both of whom didn't even qualify for the 2014 World Cup, and then Romania didn't even win a game at Euro 2016, who were seeded in the top pot since they got fat on wins against teams that were poor competition but in UEFA.
Then you had Italy who was punished for a poor WC 2014 since they 2 losses in that tournament hurt their coefficient. (Although England was still seeded Even though Italy beat them at the WC and they finished below them in our group)
So teams that didn't qualify but feasted on weak competition in friendlies were given a better seed.
Here is a good article from it at the time.
http://uk.businessinsider.com/new-ju...ankings-2015-7