World Cup 2018 Draw – The Lowdown

England and Spain face potential tough draws

World Cup Betting

All 32 spots a the 2018 World Cup are now filled, Peru being the last nation to book their ticket to the tournament. So all the qualification is now settled and the next big important date on the calendar is December 1st as that is when the draw for Russia 2018 will be held. FIFA have already launched the details of the seedings from which the draw will be made, with the 32 teams being split over four pots.

Who will be at Russia 2018?

Of the thirty two nations, there will be two nations making their World Cup debuts. Those are Panama, who contributed to the failure of the USA to make the tournament, and Iceland who will be looking to continue on from their heroics at Euro 2016. Along with the USA, other notable names missing from the World Cup are Italy, the Netherlands, Chile and African champions Cameroon. England are the only home nation to make it.

Hosts – Russia
Africa – Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, Tunisia
Asia – Australia, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea
Europe – Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland
North, Central America and Caribbean Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama
South America – Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay

World Cup 2018 Draw and Seedings

The draw will be held at 3 pm (GMT), Friday, December 1st from Moscow. The 32 teams taking part next year will be drawn out into the eight groups of the tournament, Groups A through H. The top eight ranked teams in the current FIFA World Rankings all have landed themselves in Pot One and it means that they will each go into their own group. Russia, as hosts will be in Group A.

Pot one: Russia, Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland, France
Pot two: Spain, Peru, Switzerland, England, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Croatia
Pot three: Denmark, Iceland, Costa Rica, Sweden, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Iran
Pot four: Serbia, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Panama, South Korea, Saudi Arabia

This isn’t just going to be a straightforward draw though because there are conditions set on it. No team from the same confederation can be drawn in the same group (except for UEFA nations and no more than two UEFA nations per group).

As can be seen from the pots, both England and Spain failed to get themselves into the top speed which could mean a tough draw ahead for them against one of the top seeds.

When does the World Cup 2018 start?

The usual format of the World Cup will be played out, with the top two teams from each of the eight groups getting through to the knockout stage. The date for the first World Cup 2018 match is on Thursday, June 14th and that will, of course, feature the host nation Russia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. The World Cup Final 2018 is pencilled in for July 15th. There are 12 stadia being used for the tournament with two of them in Moscow. The venues are spread across four different time zones.

World Cup 2018 Kick-Off Times

Because of the major time zone differences that the tournament will be played across, there are different kick-off times. There will be games kicking off at 11:00 BST, 1300 BST, 1400 BST, 1500 BST, 19:00 BST and 20:00 BST. Twenty five of the 64 games at the tournament will be going off as a 7 pm kick off. The final will be a 16:00 BST kick off time.

World Cup Betting Odds

Reigning world champions Germany are still top of the World Cup outright winner market at William Hill. They are 5/1 to get their hands back on the trophy, with Brazil and France at 11/2 just behind them. Spain and Argentina are the only other two nations in single figures while England are priced up as big 20/1 underdogs.

Germany 5/1, Brazil 11/2, France 11/2, Spain 15/2, Argentina 7/1 Belgium 14/1, England 20/1, Portugal 25/1, Croatia 28/1, Russia 40/1, Uruguay 40/1, Colombia 40/1, Poland 40/1, bar 66/1

The Draw for England

Because of the seeding and England coming out of Pot 2 for the draw the worst case scenario would be them meeting either Brazil or Argentina, one of the non-European nations from Pot 1 because that could throw up a potentially tricky possibility of drawing a European side from Pot 3, Denmark, Iceland or Sweden. If they draw one of the European sides from Pot 1 then it may be easier down the line for them by avoiding those in the other two pots. Either way, they are going to be guaranteed one very tough game.