FIFA have announced that the 2018 Men’s World Cup will see a return to seeded pots at the final draw. The 32 teams that qualify will be divided into four pots based solely upon their FIFA rankings, although teams from the same confederation will still be kept apart as much as possible.

At previous Men’s World Cups dating back to Italy 1990, there has been one pot containing the highest ranked teams, and all other pots have been allocated geographically. FIFA’s competition organising committee has now decided that the pots will be set based upon the rankings of OCT 2017.

Russia, as host nation, will be placed into the first pot with the seven highest ranked teams. The next eight will be placed in the second pot, and so forth. The limits on teams from the same confederation will remain in place: no group may contain more than two UEFA teams or more than one team from any other confederation.

The draw will be held in Moscow on FRI 01 DEC 2017.