The World Cup playoff was made earlier today and threw up a number of interesting match-ups.

The ties take place on November 15th and 19th so there is a month to build anticipation.

But let's take a look at formations, form and head-to-head records...

Portugal (14) v Sweden (25)

This is arguably the most intriguing of the four playoff matches. It pits two second tier European nations who can each call on one truly world class player.

For Portugal the obvious name is Cristiano Ronaldo while Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the standout individual for Sweden.

The sad thing is one of these great players - both are still at their peaks - will not be able to play at next summer's showpiece.

We should know all about Sweden having faced them twice, losing in Dublin. But they are far from infallible. Their defensive deficiencies can be exploited as the current centre-back pairing of Per Nilsson and Mikael Antonsson are both inexperienced at this level despite the fact that both are over 30.

The Swedes play a 4-4-1-1 with Zlatan Ibrahimovic often playing in behind centre-forward Johan Elmander. They do have talent on the wings with Alexander Kacaliknic's pace and Sebastian Larsson's accurate delivery. Celtic's Mikael Lustig provides an over-lapping threat from right full-back.

Portugal are not in great shakes either. Cristiano Ronaldo aside, there is talent and experience in the squad but a familiar issue remains: the lack of a world class centre-forward. Helder Postiga has a good goal return for Portugal but is certainly not a top drawer striker.

There are no surprises with their formation. It will be the 4-2-3-1 system that they have used for over a decade. 

The interesting battle will be between Lustig and Ronaldo who could exploit any gaps if the right back ventures forward too often. That being said, the fact that the Real Madrid star does not track back could see Fabio Coentrao having to deal with Larsson and Lustig by himself.  

The two countries have only played each other four times this millennium, the most recent coming in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Both games ended 0 - 0, although it was Portugal who qualified, pipping Sweden by one point.

Do not be surprised if this playoff tie is decided by the tightest of margins. 

Ukraine (20) v France (21)

Last time these two met, France came out on top on very wet Ukrainian soil in their Euro 2012 group.

France won 2 - 0 on that occasion with Jeremy Menez and Yohan Cabaye finding the net.

But Ukraine are ahead in the rankings, by one place.

They gave England a run for their money, losing out on automatic qualification by a single point while France were edged out by World and European champions Spain.

France's grand problème has been the lack of goals. In September, when Les Bleus were held to a scorless draw in Georgia during the qualifiers, it marked a five game run without finding the net.

The main scapegoat has been Karim Benzema who was relegated to the bench before the final two games of the qualifiers.

Arsenal's Olivier Giroud came in and in the last three games they have netted 13 goals in three games. Even Benzema has now scored in consecutive games  as a substitute.

France are using a 4-2-3-1 formation with Franck Ribery on the left and the returning Samir Nasri either on the right or in the No 10 slot. The favoured centre-back partnership is Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny and Monaco's Eric Abidal.

PSG's energetic midfielder Blaise Matuidi, Juventus' Paul Pogba and Cabaye are battling for the central midfield positions.

Ukraine might have played a 4-4-2 against San Marino but in the more important games they also play a 4-2-3-1 with an emphasis on the talents of Dynamo Kiev's Andriy Yarmolenko and Dnipro's Evgen Konoplyanka to unlock opposing defences.

On paper, you would back France based on the star names and the recent head-to-head record which has seen them win four of the last five games between the two nations.

But the pressure will be on France and we saw how they coped with that level of expectation against Ireland this time four years ago, requiring Thierry Henry's GAA skills to book them a flight to South Africa.

Greece (15) v Romania (29)

The Greeks lost out on automatic qualification to Bosnia by goal difference which is not much of a surprise as they are more well known for their solidity.

Manager Fernando Santos has used different formations in their last three games including 4-2-3-1, a variation of 4-3-3- and in the qualifier against Slovakia it was 4-4-2.

Celtic's Jesus look-alike Giorgios Samaras provides versatility as an option on the left or up alongside main striker Konstantinos Mitroglou.

But the main goal threat in qualifying was Dimitrios Salpingidis who scored three times from his right wing position to end up as their top scorer.

Defensively they are rock solid, not conceding a goal at home in qualifying and giving away just four away from home (three of those were leaked in a match against Bosnia).

So Romania have a hard nut to crack. They were outclassed by Netherlands in their group but did enough to fend off the likes of Turkey and Hungary.

They have also tightened up defensively - on paper at least. Since the 4 - 0 defeat to Holland in March, they have conceded three goals in six games. But if we add the caveat that opponents included Trinidad & Tobago, Andorra and Estonia, then it must be taken with a pinch of salt. In their biggest game during that run they were beaten 2 - 0 at home by Turkey. They started with a 4-4-2 in that game but have also alternated with the 4-2-3-1.

Historically, Romania has had the upper hand in this fixture and also won 3 - 1 during their last meeting in 2011.

Expect this to be a tight match.

Iceland (46) v Croatia (18)

This current Icelandic crop are a Golden Generation as discussed on Euro Footy Focus at the weekend. They will not be pushovers especially for a Croatian team that are not in the best form.

Danger men include Kolbeinn Sigþorsson and Alfred Finnbogason who are scoring goals for fun in the Dutch league, Tottenham's Gylfi Sigurdsson weighed in with four goals during the qualifiers, while veteran Eidur Gudjohsen is still a key figure in a team whose base is drawn from the team which qualified for the 2011 European U21 Championships.

They tend to play with two up front, while the midfield is often a diamond with Sigurdsson at the point and Cardiff's Aron Gunnarsson at the base.

On paper, Croatia should get past Iceland such is the depth of talent in the team. Luka Modric seems to be enjoying a renaissance at club level while other top performers like Bayern Munich's Mario Mandzukic and Shakhtar Donetsk right back Darijo Srna are all definite starters when fit. Also keep an eye out for Inter Milan's talented youngster Mateo Kovacic who was featured on The Scouting Report on Sunday and may be sprung from the bench or even start .

But the Balkan nation has struggled in recent matches, losing consecutive games to Belgium and Scotland this month, results which prompted the FA to sack manager Igor Stimac. 

Stimac had favoured a formation with three at the back in the last few games but new man Niko Kovac may revert to a more familiar back four.

They have only met Iceland twice but in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers they beat the Nordic nation home and away by a 7 - 1 aggregate score. The current Iceland team is made of sterner stuff, although they may need to play with an extra midfielder to give themselves a greater chance of upsetting the apple cart. 

FIFA rankings in brackets