Soccer: Ireland among second seeds for World Cup finals

FIFA’s World Cup committee has named Ireland among the second group of seeds for next year’s World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.

The decision means Ireland will not have to face teams like England, Portugal or Croatia, who are also among the second seeds along with Sweden, Turkey, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Slovenia and Russia.

The group of top seeds includes the two hosts, Japan and South Korea, as well as France, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Italy and Spain.