FIFA announces simplified World Cup draw

World
Europe

FIFA announced on Thursday that teams will be grouped by their place in the world ranking rather than their continent as part of a new and simplified format for the 2018 World Cup draw.

The 32 teams will be divided into four pots with the seven top-ranked teams plus hosts Russia in pot one, the next eight-ranked teams in pot two and so on.

Each first-round group would consist of one team from each pot, determined by the draw. FIFA said the only geographical constraint would be that no group could include two teams from the same continent, with the exception of Europe.

The FIFA logo is seen at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland March 18, 2016. /Reuters Photo

The draw for the previous World Cup in Brazil involved a complex system in which teams were divided according to rankings for pot one, and their continent for the remainder.

However, to even out the numbers, a “pre-draw” was held and a temporary “Pot X” was set up, creating a system that critics said was unnecessarily complex.

The rankings will be published by FIFA on October 16 and the draw will take place in Moscow on December 1.

This would avoid another controversy, which emerged in 2014 when the November rankings were used, which critics said gave an advantage to teams involved in that month’s play offs.

Logo for FIFA World Cup Russia 2018. /Photo via‍ FIFA

The top seven-ranked teams currently include Switzerland and Poland, while Peru and Wales could feature in Pot 2 alongside France and Spain, if they qualify.

Italy are currently 17th in the FIFA ranking which would land them in Pot 3 if all the teams above them qualify.

Brazil, Iran, Mexico, Japan, Belgium, South Korea and Saudi Arabia are the teams who have made sure of their places in next year’s tournament so far.

7990km

Source(s): Reuters