World Cup draw: how it all works

We take a look at how the teams line up as the 2018 FIFA World Cup draw looms.

The 32 teams that have qualified for the 2018 Russia World Cup are split into eight four-team group and placed in four pots. The teams are placed in ranks in accordance with their position in the FIFA rankings. Each group will have one team from these four pots. Hosts Russia has been placed in Pot 1 along with the seven highest ranked sides in the world. No confederations can have more than one team in a group – only exception being Europe, who can have a maximum of two teams in a group.

The teams from Pot 1 will occupy the top positions of each group. As hosts, Russia will occupy top position of Group A and the other seven teams will occupy top positions of Group B to H. The positions of other teams will be decided when they are drawn.

Brazil and Argentina cannot face each other in a group because they are from the same confederation. However, these two South America sides might line up in a group with Spain or England. Argentina captain Messi had previously spoken about how he was worried of facing Spain in the World Cup.

Also Read: Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo looking forward to the World Cup draw

A potential group of death could see the likes of Argentina or Brazil line up alongside Spain, Sweden and Nigeria in the same group. All this makes for an exciting event as we await the draw.

The four Pots:

Pot 1: Russia (hosts), Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland, France

Pot 2: Spain, Peru, Switzerland, England, Colombia, Uruguay, Mexico, Croatia

Pot 3: Denmark, Iceland, Costa Rica, Sweden, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Iran

Pot 4: Serbia, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Panama, South Korea, Saudi Arabia