Those mostly meaningless FIFA rankings will become more meaningful than ever at next summer’s World Cup. FIFA announced Thursday the 2018 World Cup draw will seed teams into four pots based on FIFA rankings at the end of October.
In previous years, FIFA would seed the top seven teams and the host into the first pot, with the remaining pots determined by geography. Now all four pots will be seeded in order, though restrictions remain to keep two teams from the same continent from being drawn into the same group (UEFA can have a maximum of two countries per group).
FIFA rankings. Photo: @889BrilaFM | Twitter
FIFA rankings haven’t always been a great indicator of success, whether past, present or future. Northern Ireland is currently ranked No. 20 while the Netherlands is No. 29.
This isn’t great news for the U.S., which slipped to No. 28 in the September rankings released Thursday. While not every team ahead of the U.S. will make the World Cup, it’s likely the USMNT will fall into Pot 3, unless they can boost their ranking in the October qualifiers (which the U.S. needs to do if it wants to be in the draw at all).
Mexico, at No. 14, is in better position to go into Pot 2. It's also good news for Germany, which bumped Brazil from the top spot this month. Portugal and Argentina, ranked No. 3 and 4, respectively, aren’t even assured a spot in the tournament yet while Poland and Switzerland — not your typical powerhouses — are currently in the Top 8.
The World Cup draw will be Dec. 1 in Moscow. In theory, this would give FIFA enough time to update its rankings from the final World Cup qualifiers in November. But this is FIFA, so they’re using the October rankings because reasons.
In the mean time, tickets are already on sale, so you can plop down hundreds of dollars for a ticket to a match you have no idea who will be playing in.
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