2022 World Cup draw: who are the top seeds, which pot would US be in?
The USMNT are on the verge of confirming their place in the draw for the 2022 World Cup, which is to be held in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Friday.
If they qualify for the 2022 World Cup on Wednesday, the United States men’s national team are set to go into Pot 2 in Friday’s tournament draw.
The USMNT visit Costa Rica in the final round of CONCACAF qualifiers, knowing they’ll book their ticket to Qatar as long as they avoid defeat by six goals or more.
How are the World Cup seedings determined?
In the main, the seedings at the 2022 World Cup will be decided by the latest pre-draw FIFA world rankings, which are to be published on Thursday.
Hosts Qatar will automatically go into Pot 1, where they will be joined by the seven highest-ranked qualified teams. As things stand, the top seeds will be: Argentina, Brazil, Belgium, England, France, Portugal, Qatar and Spain.
Pot 2 will feature the countries ranked eight to 15 among the teams at the tournament. They currently include the US, who sit 13th in the world rankings.
The 16th to 23rd-highest ranked qualified nations will be in Pot 3, while Pot 4 will comprise the 24th to 28th-best teams, plus the three countries yet to progress from the two inter-confederation play-offs and the rearranged UEFA play-off final.
The eight four-nation groups in the World Cup group stage will be formed by one team each from Pots 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Final three World Cup qualifiers to be confirmed in June
In the inter-confederation play-offs, the UAE or Australia will represent the AFC against CONMEBOL’s Peru, and the fourth-placed finisher in CONCACAF will meet the Solomon Islands or New Zealand from the OFC. The ties will be played in Qatar on 13 and 14 June.
Wales will take on Scotland or Ukraine in the remaining UEFA play-off final, which has been postponed to June because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
See also:
Follow the World Cup draw live with AS USA
The Doha Exhibition and Conference Center will host the 2022 World Cup draw on Friday 1 April at 7pm local time (12 noon ET/9am PT). Check out what time the draw starts wherever you are in the world.
You’ll be able to follow live-text coverage of the draw with AS USA.
