Top seeds confirmed for World Cup finals draw

The eight seeded teams for Friday’s World Cup finals draw have been confirmed after Portugal sealed their place with a 2-0 win over North Macedonia in the UEFA playoffs.

– World Cup finals draw: Date, time, format, seeds
– World Cup: Who has qualified and who is still in contention

Pot 1 contains hosts Qatar, along with strongest seven nations to have qualified for the finals, according to the next FIFA World Ranking which will be officially published on Thursday ahead of the draw.

Pot 1 teams:
Qatar
Brazil
Belgium
France
Argentina
England
Spain
Portugal

It means heavyweights Germany and Netherlands, along with Denmark, Switzerland, Croatia and Uruguay, will be placed into Pot 2 and face the likelihood of a difficult group for the finals, which will be held between Nov. 21 and Dec. 18 in Qatar.

The remaining pots cannot be confirmed until CONCACAF qualifying is completed on Wednesday. If, as expected, Mexico and United States collect the final two automatic places they will both slot into Pot 2.

All four pots will be ordered by the FIFA World Ranking, apart from the winners of the three remaining playoffs — two intercontinental and the outstanding UEFA path involving Ukraine which are due to be played in June — who will be placed into Pot 4 regardless of their FIFA Ranking.

One team from each of the four pots will be in a group.

The draw ceremony will begin at 4 p.m. GMT, midday ET, 7 p.m. local time in Doha, Qatar on Friday.