England have been named as one of the top eight seeds for next summer’s World Cup (England 6/1 to win the tournament on Betfred outright coupon) but could potentially face either France or Portugal in the group stages.

Fabio Capello’s side were named by Fifa in the top pot of seeds alongside hosts South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Holland, Italy, Germany and Argentina.

Portugal and France (both 16/1 to win the World Cup on coupon) are not going to be seeded for Friday’s draw so could potentially be drawn in the same group stages as England.

There are some other possibly dangerous sides which England could draw, such as an Ivory Coast (25/1 for victory on coupon) team which includes Didier Drogba or Confederations Cup finalists USA (66/1 to win on coupon).

By being among the top eight seeds, England will avoid having to play much-fancied sides Spain or Brazil in the group stage (Both 9/2 to win the World Cup on coupon).

The pots for the draw, which takes place at 17:00 on Friday, are:
Pot 1 (seeds) – South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England

Pot 2 – Australia, Honduras, Japan, Korea DPR, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, USA.

Pot 3 – Algeria, Cameroon, Chile, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Paraguay, Uruguay.

Pot 4 – Denmark, France, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland.

See all the World Cup 2010 markets at Betfred.com.