England v Poland: France could be play-off opponents

Controversial seeding system would put England into top pot, but could mean tricky two-legged tie against France if Poland cannot be beaten

England could face a World Cup play-off against France next month if Roy Hodgson’s team fails to win against Poland at Wembley on Tuesday night.

While England’s qualification fate remains in their own hands, with a victory against the Poles enough to confirm top spot in Group H, the combination of a Ukraine win against San Marino and a draw or defeat for England would leave the Football Association anxiously awaiting the outcome of next Monday’s play-off draw in Zurich.

Fifa has confirmed that the play-offs will be seeded, with their world ranking table used to decide the seedings.

A Fifa statement said: “The eight teams will be seeded in two pots with the four highest-ranked teams placed in one pot.

“The ranking will be based on the Fifa/Coca-Cola world ranking published on October 17, 2013. The matches are due to be played on November 15 and November 19 respectively.”

The good news for England is that, as the rankings and qualification groups stand, they would sneak into the quartet of top seeds alongside Croatia, Portugal and Greece.

And although top seeds will benefit from playing the second-leg at home, England could end up with a hazardous double-header against the likes of France, Sweden or Turkey – all of whom will be in the unseeded group.

Fifa was subjected to criticism in 2009 when the seeding system was used for the play-offs for the 2010 World Cup.

That draw saw the Republic of Ireland drawn against the French, who ultimately progressed to South Africa in controversial circumstances following Thierry Henry’s double-handball prior to William Gallas’s decisive goal in Paris.

At the time, Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni condemned the seeding of the play-offs as ‘the death of football,’ while goalkeeper Shay Given branded the move as ‘disgusting’ and ‘totally unfair on the smaller nations.’

With some groups still in a state of flux ahead of Tuesday’s final qualifiers – four teams can claim runners-up spot in Group B – the final line-up of the play-offs remains impossible to predict.

The runner-up with the weakest record in qualifying will miss out on the play-offs, with the four teams (Bulgaria, Denmark, Czech Republic and Armenia) slugging it out for second spot in Group B the likeliest to suffer that fate.

But if England do find themselves playing off for a spot in Brazil next month, their best hope will be a two-legged clash against Iceland or Slovenia – currently vying for second spot in Group E – rather than a head-to-head with the French.