Seeds named for European World Cup playoffs

France, Portugal, Russia and Greece seeded for European playoffs to reach World Cup

(AP)  ZURICH (AP) - France, Portugal, Russia and Greece will be seeded in the playoffs to decide the final four European spots at the 2010 World Cup.

They were the four highest-ranked of the playoff teams in the FIFA world rankings published Friday, meaning they cannot face each other in the two-legged playoffs on Nov. 14 and 18.

Instead they will be paired against the four non-seeded teams - Ukraine, Ireland, Bosnia and Slovenia - with the draw to be announced Monday.

FIFA was criticized for waiting until last month before deciding to seed the playoffs.