2018 FIFA World Cup seeding

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Eight 2018 postage stamps from Russia depicting the draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup group stage. Russia stamp 2018 No.  2345-2352.jpg
Eight 2018 postage stamps from Russia depicting the draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup group stage.

The draw for the 2018 FIFA World Cup took place on 1 December 2017 at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia. [1] It determined the group in which each of the 32 qualified national teams would play in at the start of the tournament. The teams were divided into four pots of eight, with one team selected from each pot to form a group.

Contents

Unlike previous editions of the World Cup, all pots were determined by each national team's October 2017 FIFA World Ranking, with Pot 1 containing the highest-ranked teams, Pot 2 containing the next highest-ranked teams, and so on until Pot 4, containing the lowest ranked teams; in previous editions only one pot containing the highest-ranked teams was determined by rank, with the other three pots determined by continental confederation. The hosts continued to be placed in Pot 1 and treated as a seeded team, and therefore Pot 1 consisted of hosts Russia and the seven highest-ranked teams that qualified for the tournament.

The draw sequence started with pot 1 and ended with pot 4. [2]

As with previous editions, no group had more than one team from any continental confederation except for UEFA, which had at least one, but no more than two in a group. [2]

Seeding

Teams were seeded using the October 2017 FIFA World Rankings [3] (shown in parentheses), which were published on 16 October 2017. [4]

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

Final draw


Position 1Position 2Position 3Position 4
Group A Flag of Russia.svg  Russia Flag of Saudi Arabia.svg  Saudi Arabia Flag of Egypt.svg  Egypt Flag of Uruguay.svg  Uruguay
Group B Flag of Portugal (official).svg  Portugal Flag of Spain.svg  Spain Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco Flag of Iran.svg  Iran
Group C Flag of France (lighter variant).svg  France Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Flag of Peru.svg  Peru Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
Group D Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Flag of Iceland.svg  Iceland Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria
Group E Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica Flag of Serbia.svg  Serbia
Group F Flag of Germany.svg  Germany Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea
Group G Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium Flag of Panama.svg  Panama Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia Flag of England.svg  England
Group H Flag of Poland.svg  Poland Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia Flag of Japan.svg  Japan

References

  1. "Final Draw to take place in State Kremlin Palace". FIFA.com. 24 January 2017. Archived from the original on 28 January 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Close-up on Final Draw procedures". FIFA.com. 27 November 2017. Archived from the original on 27 November 2017.
  3. "OC for FIFA Competitions approves procedures for the Final Draw of the 2018 FIFA World Cup". FIFA.com. 14 September 2017. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017.
  4. FIFA.com. "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking - October 2017". FIFA.com. Archived from the original on 13 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.