How will the 2018 World Cup draw work?

The 32 teams who will face off for the 2018 World Cup next summer in Russia have been confirmed. Next step: the draw.

Below is a look at everything you need to know for the 2018 World Cup draw in Moscow on Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. ET.

Let’s get to it.

Who is in?

32 teams have qualified and have been placed into four pots based on their FIFA World Ranking in October.

Here are the four pots, each including eight teams, with their world rankings also included.


Pot 1: Russia (hosts 65), Germany (1), Brazil (2), Portugal (3), Argentina (4), Belgium (5), Poland (6), France (7)
Pot 2: Spain (8), Peru (10), Switzerland (11), England (12), Colombia (13), Mexico (16), Uruguay (17), Croatia (18)
Pot 3: Denmark (19), Iceland (21), Costa Rica (22), Sweden (25), Tunisia (28), Egypt (30), Senegal (32), Iran (34)
Pot 4: Serbia (38), Nigeria (41), Australia (43), Japan (44), Morocco (48), Panama (49), South Korea (62), Saudi Arabia (63)

How will the draw work?

One team will be drawn from each of the four pots to make up a group. There will be eight groups in total.

Teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn against one another in the group stage, with the exception of UEFA. A maximum of two European teams can be in the same group during the Group Stage of the competition.

What are the “Group of Death” scenarios?

Based solely on the draw requirements, here is a look at two of the “Group of Death” scenarios which could come up next month during the draw. Yep, these could both be groups next summer.

Get ready for a lot “Groups of Death” talk…

Group of Death, scenario 1: Germany, Spain, Costa Rica, Nigeria
Group of Death, scenario 2: Brazil, England, Egypt, Australia

Which confederations have the most teams?

13 nations qualified from the European region with Russia, qualifying automatically as hosts, also from UEFA. South America had four automatic qualifiers and Peru won their inter-confederation playoff, while Asia also had four automatic spots and Australia won their inter-confederation playoff. Only three teams qualified from the CONCACAF region, while five teams made it from Africa.

UEFA (Europe): 14 teams
CONMEBOL (South America): 5
AFC (Asia): 5
CAF (Africa): 5
CONCACAF (North, Central America & Caribbean): 3