2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

[Satchmo Distel]

2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

Which is absurd. How can you be above, say, England in one list but below in another?

[3 Colours Red]

2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

Well, that and they're actually based on the UEFA rankings which we're still a fair bit lower down on than our lofty position on FIFA's list.

[Ray de Galles]

2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

And for us to fuck up.

[mirko bolesan]

2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

Wales ascent up the FIFA rankings means they're currently in line to be in the "Premier League" of the UEFA Nations Cup that starts in 2018.

Though there's plenty of time for the criteria for qualification of the tournament to be fiddled with.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

Wales qualified for the 1958 World Cup in place of the Asian/African side who would have gone, after everyone else in the world but them refused to play Israel. Belgium were offered the opportunity first but said no.

[mirko bolesan]

2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

The 1958 seedings had the right idea, four pots of four teams.

Eastern European: USSR, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia.
Western Europe: Sweden, West Germany, Austria, France.
Americas: Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay
"British nations": England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

Australia might get to play New Zealand ...

[Satchmo Distel]

2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

Confederations Cup looks exciting...

[Wouter D]

2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

Rogin the Armchair fan wrote: Argentina
Belgium
Colombia
Germany
Chile
Portugal
France

Pesky Portugal screwing up the total domination of the first half of the alphabet.

[N est à?]

2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

Offer Brazil a play-off against New Zealand to get to Russia and right now they'll bite your hand off.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

FIFA will always find some method of seeding to suit; in 1982, for example, they somewhat arbitrarily decided to place the other 5 qualifiers who'd won a World Cup before (Italy, West Germany, Brazil, England and Argentina) into different groups to hosts Spain, even though England had only just qualified for the first time in twelve years by finishing second to Hungary. In 1986, they seeded the four semi-finalists from 1982 (who'd all qualified again) and also Brazil, on the basis that they were Brazil. For 1990, they again seeded the (three qualified) semi-finalists from 1986, then found a way to decide Brazil and England (and not Spain) would be seeded out of the 1986 quarter-finalists, primarily to ensure England could be put in a group on Sicily.

But for the last couple of World Cups, they have gone according to the top of their rankings. So, at the moment, the 7 teams seeded alongside Russia would be

Argentina
Belgium
Colombia
Germany
Chile
Portugal
France

with Spain, Brazil, Italy, Wales and Uruguay currently making up the top 12.

If Brazil or Uruguay win a couple of qualifiers against Chile and Colombia, they could replace them in the top 7, but those are going to be the only matches between now and 2018 that will tip the balance if, as one would expect, all the European sides on that list qualify. There is the Confederations Cup next summer but I think only Chile, Portugal and Germany will be going to that, so their "bonus" points in that will only serve to keep them up there.

If 2 CONMEBOL sides qualify but are unseeded, and 9 UEFA sides qualify but are unseeded, FIFA's going to have a devil of a job slotting them into a draw along with 5 CAF teams, 4 AFC and 4 CONCACAF. It'll probably be that fudge where they do a pre-draw to pick one European side out to sit in a pot with the CONMEBOL and CAF ones, and the whole thing will take about three hours.

[Satchmo Distel]

2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

England are currently ranked 13 and Brazil 9, so a poor qualification must put them below top 8, maybe below top 16

[Kevin S]

2018 WC finals draw seedings prospects

I don't think the way you qualify matters, it's done on rankings.

[Satchmo Distel]

If Brazil and England only get to Russia via playoffs, how will the seedings be fiddled?