BERLIN, June 20: Since FIFA expanded the field to 32 nations before the 1998 World Cup, at least one seeded team has failed to advance to the second round at each tournament.

In 1998, Spain crashed out after three matches. In 2002, Argentina placed third in their group, and only the top two advanced. France finished last in their group and failed to score a goal in three games.

The other 13 seeds in the two tournaments made it to the second round.

This year’s tournament could be the first under the new format when all eight seeds advance. Five of the eight already have clinched berths in the second round: Germany, England, Argentina, Brazil, Spain.

France have struggled again, but can still advance. Les Bleus, the seeded team in Group G, have scored one goal in two games, both of them draws. To be assured of advancing, France must beat Togo and have the Switzerland-South Korea match not end in a draw.

If the Swiss and Koreans do draw, France can still get advance as long as it scores enough goals while beating Togo.

Mexico, the seeded team in Group D, need only a draw against Portugal in their last group game to advance. However, the Mexicans have been beset by injuries, and should they lose, they would only fail to advance if Angola beat Iran, and the combined margin of victory in the two games is three or more.

The situation in Group E is the most unsettled. All four teams can still advance, although seed Italy control their destiny, needing only a draw against the Czech Republic to clinch a berth in the second round.

Before the World Cup draw, FIFA seeds eight teams, including the host nation, to prevent those sides from meeting each other until the second round at the earliest. FIFA uses recent World Cup performances and the world ranking to determine which teams, other than the host, should be seeded. In theory, the seeds (outside of the hosts) represent the best teams in the tournament.

Starting in 1962, FIFA has used some form of a seeding system after the completion of qualifying in every World Cup except in 1970. In each of those tournaments, a seeded team went on to win.—AP