World Cup 2018 draw rules

(Baonghean.vn) - FIFA has just announcedvThe final play-off round of the 2018 World Cup will be held in early November. The group stage draw will take place on December 1 at the Kremlin, Moscow. Accordingly, 7The team topping the FIFA rankings in October 2017 will be in the seeding group of the 2018 World Cup along with host Russia.

Not much different from other World Cups, host Russia will be the seed in Group A and will of course play the opening match of the 2018 World Cup. The remaining 7 teams at the top of the FIFA rankings in October 2017 will be drawn into the remaining 7 groups as seeded teams. The principle of seeding non-seeded groups has changed fundamentally.

2018 World Cup mascot. Photo: Internet

By continent

In previous World Cups, the seeding pots from second to fourth were based on geographical location. Pot 2 was Africa and South America, Pot 3 was Asia and CONCACAF, and Pot 4 was Europe. Since Europe had 9 teams, FIFA randomly selected 1 team to put in Pot 2, which had 7 teams.

The unfortunate European side will be drawn into a group with a South American seed to ensure geographical separation. The original draw format was such that no two teams from the same confederation would be drawn together, with the exception of UEFA for the aforementioned reasons.

With this draw format, teams from the same league will not face each other early, giving them a chance to advance. However, on the contrary, there are still cases where strong teams are forced into groups or groups that include average or even weak teams.

The group with a European team placed in Group 2, which includes African and South American teams, is usually very strong and is considered the group of death. No matter how strong an Asian or CONCACAF team is, it has almost no chance when facing a South American team and 2 European teams.

World Cup 2014, Italy being pushed from group 4 to group 2 also made their group D become the "group of death", with Uruguay, England and Italy being considered equally strong, the remaining team Costa Rica is also no pushover.

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But at the 2018 World Cup, the next three pots will also be determined based on the FIFA rankings, not geographical separation. The next eight best-ranked teams, after the top seven teams at the 2018 World Cup, will be seeded into the second pot. The third and fourth pots will be similarly divided.

World Cup 2018 will be divided into groups based on FIFA rankings. Photo: Internet

Besides, if Ukraine gets a ticket to the finals, FIFA may not put them in the same group with the host team Russia for political reasons.

The FIFA rankings for September 2017 were announced on September 14, with the top 7 teams being Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland and Switzerland. Of these, only Argentina is having trouble, the rest are in good form and are expected to maintain their positions on the FIFA rankings next month.

In our opinion, England, France, Spain, Italy and Mexico, who have already secured their tickets to Russia or are almost certain to do so, will be placed in Pot 2. Among African and Asian teams, Iran is the highest ranked team in the FIFA rankings in September 2017, the only team that can enter Pot 3.

FIFA experts believe that the decision to select seed groups will shift from geographical criteria to the ranking of the teams, which is expected to create many exciting matches right from the group stage.

AT