The 2014 World Cup alternative draw

The draw for the 2014 World Cup was made by FIFA based on the FIFA rankings to make up the following groups in Europe:

Group A
Croatia, Serbia, Belgium, Scotland, Macedonia, Wales

Group B
Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Armenia, Malta
Group C
Germany, Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Austria, Faroe Islands, Kazakhstan
Group D
Netherlands, Turkey, Hungary, Romania, Estonia, Andorra
Group E
Norway, Slovenia, Switzerland, Albania, Cyprus, Iceland
Group F
Portugal, Russia, Israel, Northern Ireland, Azerbaijan, Luxembourg
Group G
Greece, Slovakia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lithuania, Latvia, Liechtenstein
Group H
England, Montenegro, Ukraine, Poland, Moldova, San Marino
Group I
Spain, France, Belarus, Georgia, Finland

The above groups were created by placing teams into pots according to the FIFA rankings and drawing one from each pot to create a group.

  

Pot 1: Spain, Netherlands, Germany, England, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Norway, Greece.
Pot 2: France, Montenegro, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, Slovenia, Turkey, Serbia, Slovakia.
Pot 3: Switzerland, Israel, Republic of Ireland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belarus, Ukraine, Hungary.
Pot 4: Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, Lithuania, Albania, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Austria, Poland.
Pot 5: Armenia, Finland, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Moldova, Macedonia, Azerbaijan, Faroe Islands.
Pot 6: Wales, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Malta, Andorra, San Marino.

Based on the Ziaian ranking system the pots would have taken a different look, resulting in a different outcome.

Pot 1: Spain, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, France, England, Croatia.

Pot 2: Republic of Ireland, Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, Turkey, Ukraine, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic.
Pot 3: Serbia, Slovenia, Romania, Israel, Belgium, Poland, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Hungary.
Pot 4: Scotland, Belarus, Slovakia, Georgia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Lithuania, Austria, Northern Ireland, Finland.
Pot 5: Armenia, Estonia, Wales, Macedonia, Latvia, Cyprus, Albania, Moldova, Iceland.
Pot 6: Azerbaijan, Liechtenstein, Kazakhstan, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Malta, Andorra, San Marino.

The first name out of the hat was Wales, or team one from pot 6, which would have been Azerbaijan. Following the rest of the procedure in the same vein would create the following groups:

Group A
France, Russia, Israel, Lithuania, Latvia, Azerbaijan

Group B
Sweden, Turkey, Belgium, Scotland, Armenia, Malta
Group C
Germany, Norway, Romania; Northern Ireland, Iceland, Faroe Islands
Group D
Netherlands, Greece, Hungary, Belarus, Wales, Andorra
Group E
England, Ukraine, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Kazakhstan
Group F
Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia, Austria, Moldova, Luxembourg
Group G
Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Georgia, Latvia, Liechtenstein
Group H
Portugal, Denmark, Montenegro, Finland, Cyprus, San Marino
Group I
Spain, Republic of Ireland, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Estonia

This would have produced a much fairer draw with more balanced groups.