The top-seeded teams for the FIFA World Cup tournament draw on Dec. 5 — including Germany, but not Croatia — were set on Wednesday when FIFA published new rankings the day after four continents completed qualifying.
Cohosts the US, Canada and Mexico are to be joined in the pot of No. 1 seeds by top-ranked Spain, defending champions Argentina, as well as France, England, Portugal, Brazil, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Croatia, semi-finalists in 2022 and beaten finalist by France in 2018, were edged down into pot 2 for the draw ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
Photo: Reuters yesterday.
The updated FIFA rankings also decided seeding for the draw for playoff brackets in March that are to decide the final six entries in the expanded 48-nation lineup. The draw was to be conducted after press time last night.
The 22 playoffs teams include 16 in Europe playing for four World Cup places and six from the other regions chasing two spots in the intercontinental brackets.
Italy is the headliner in the European brackets as the four-time world champions aim to avoid a humiliating third straight exit in the playoffs.
Twelfth-ranked Italy were pushed into the playoffs after finishing runners-up in a qualifying group won by Norway. Erling Haaland’s Norway team are shaping up as a dangerous option from pot 3 in two weeks’ time.
Italy were to be drawn yesterday at home against a fourth-seeded team. It could again be North Macedonia, who shockingly eliminated Italy in 2022.
The winners on March 26 advance to a playoff final five days later against the team who emerge from the No. 2 seed versus No. 3 seed pairing in their knockout bracket.
Home advantage in the single-game playoff finals were to be decided by yesterday’s draw and not FIFA ranking.
The teams who emerge from the four separate European playoff brackets are expected to be placeholders from low-ranked pot 4 in the Dec. 5 draw.
Top-seeded Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo await the winners of playoff semi-finals that involve Bolivia, Jamaica, New Caledonia and Suriname in the intercontinental brackets.
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