Apart from Russia who are in Pot 1 as hosts, the four pots of 8 teams are based on FIFA World Rank order.

Pots and world rankings as follows:

Pot 1:

Russia (65)
Germany (1)
Brazil (2)
Portugal (3)
Argentina (4)
Belgium (5)
Poland (6)
France (7)

Pot 2:

Spain (8)
Peru (10)
Switzerland (11)
England (12)
Columbia (13)
Mexico (16)
Uruguay (17)
Croatia (18)

Pot 3:

Denmark (19)
Iceland (21)
Costa Rica (22)
Sweden (25)
Tunisia (28)
Egypt (30)
Senegal (32)
Iran (34)

Pot 4:

Serbia (38)
Nigeria (41)
Australia (43)
Japan (44)
Morocco (48)
Panama (49)
South Korea (62)
Saudi Arabia (63)


Chile were the only side from the Top 10 to qualify. Wales, Italy and the Netherlands the other teams in the Top 20 not to qualify.

Teams from the same confederation are kept apart in the groups except for Europe where two teams can be in the same group.

From an England point of view, I would rather a UEFA team from Pot 1 as the other confederation teams in Pot 3 and 4 are much weaker than Europe.