Using the world rankings from October, FIFA, the sport’s world governing body, had already said which countries would be seeded and land in:
Pot 1. They are Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Switzerland and Uruguay.
Pot 2 was given over to five teams from Africa and two from South America: Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile and Ecuador.
The United States is in Pot 3, with Iran, which precludes a first-round meeting between the countries. Pot 3 includes all four Concacaf teams (Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and the United States) and Australia, Iran, Japan and South Korea.
Pot 4 has nine European countries, one of which will be switched to Pot 2 before the draw and placed in a group with one of the four South American teams in the draw. The pot includes Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Russia.
