World Cup qualifying seedings in full: England join France and Belgium among powerhouses in pot one
England have been confirmed as one of the top seeds for next month’s World Cup qualifying draw.
Gareth Southgate’s side join defending champions France and world no.1 ranked Belgium among 10 teams in pot one for the European qualifying section ahead of the 2022 tournament in Qatar.
Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Scotland are all in pot three but Wales are in pot two, where other dangerous potential opponents for the Three Lions include Poland, led by star Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski.
In total, 55 teams will be split into five groups of five and five groups of six when the draw takes place on December 7.
England first faced Wales all the way back in 1879, with their most recent competitive meeting coming at the finals of Euro 2016 where England won 2-1.
They have not faced Northern Ireland since a shock defeat to them at Windsor Park in qualification for the 2006 World Cup.
England and the Republic faced each other in a friendly earlier this month, but have not been in competitive action since 1991, in qualification for the following year's European Championship.
England and Scotland last met in a World Cup qualifier in 2017 for the last finals in Russia two years ago. They will also meet at the group stage of Euro 2020 next summer after Scotland qualified via a play-off earlier this month.
The qualifiers will be played between March and November next year.
The winners of the 10 groups will qualify automatically for the finals, which for the first time will be played in November and December of 2022 to avoid the punishing summer heat in the Middle East.
A further three places will be fought out between the 10 group runners-up and the two highest-ranked teams from the Nations League who have not already qualified or finished in a runners-up spot.
These 12 teams will be divided into three play-off paths, each featuring four countries, to determine the final three European berths.
Seedings in full:
Pot 1: Belgium, France, England, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands.
Pot 2: Switzerland, Wales, Poland, Sweden, Austria, Ukraine, Serbia, Turkey, Slovakia, Romania.
Pot 3: Russia, Hungary, Ireland, Czech Republic, Norway, Northern Ireland, Iceland, Scotland, Greece, Finland.
Pot 4: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Israel, Belarus, Georgia, Luxembourg.
Pot 5: Armenia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Andorra.
Pot 6: Malta, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar, San Marino.
Additional reporting by PA.
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