The eight seeded teams for Friday’s World Cup draw have been confirmed following Portugal’s qualification on Tuesday.
Pot 1 contains hosts Qatar, along with the strongest seven nations to have qualified for the finals, according to the next FIFA World Ranking, which will be officially published on Thursday ahead of the draw.
Pot 1 teams:
Qatar
Brazil
Belgium
France
Argentina
England
Spain
Portugal
It means Germany and Netherlands, along with Denmark, Switzerland, Croatia and Uruguay, will be placed into Pot 2 and face the likelihood of a difficult group for the finals.
The remaining pots cannot be confirmed until CONCACAF qualifying is completed on Wednesday. If, as expected, Mexico and the United States collect the final two automatic places, they will both slot into Pot 2.
All four pots will be ordered by the FIFA World Ranking, apart from the winners of the three remaining playoffs, two intercontinental and the outstanding UEFA path involving Ukraine, which are due to be played in June, who will be placed into Pot 4 regardless of their FIFA Ranking.
One team from each of the four pots will be in a group.
