FIFA NARROWLY AVOIDED an embarrassing do-over of the draw for the 2015 Women’s World Cup on Saturday.
There was a brief moment of confusion when Colombia were drawn in Group E alongside Brazil despite a rule stipulating that two teams from the same conference cannot face each other in the group stages.
Neither Secretary General Jerome Valcke or Head of Women’s Football Tatjana Haenni spotted the mistake at first and moved to continue before Haenni called a halt.
“That’s true,” Valcke smiled. “We made a mistake.”
It took a moment to sort everything out before Colombia were correctly assigned to Group F where they will face France, England and Mexico.
(In case you’re wondering, the rule concerning teams from the same confederation does not apply to Europe.)
The World Cup takes place across six Canadian cities from 6 June-5 July.
2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup draw
Group A
- Canada
- China
- New Zealand
- Netherlands
Group B
- Germany
- Ivory Coast
- Norway
- Thailand
Group C
- Japan
- Switzerland
- Cameroon
- Ecuador
Group D
- United States
- Australia
- Sweden
- Nigeria
Group E
- Brazil
- South Korea
- Spain
- Costa Rica
Group F
- France
- England
- Colombia
- Mexico
