On December 5th
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After a long wait, FIFA has officially confirmed it: Julian Nagelsmann does not have to fear early duels with the top favorites from Argentina, Spain and France at the World Cup with the German national team. The DFB team will be represented in Pot 1 of the best teams in the draw on December 5th (6 p.m./CET) in Washington.
Nevertheless, the DFB team could face difficult opponents in the group phase at the finals in the USA, Mexico and Canada. The world association did not introduce a new seeding rule for playoff candidates such as Italy or Denmark, as was recently speculated. They end up in the worst pot, 4. A World Cup group with Colombia around Bayern star Luis Díaz, Egypt with Mohamed Salah and old rivals Italy is possible, provided the four-time champion still gets the World Cup ticket.
A group with Uruguay, Norway around Erling Haaland and Ghana would also be a challenge. But very slight variants are also possible: Iran, Panama, New Zealand would be such a constellation or a group with Austria and the World Cup newcomers Uzbekistan and Curaçao.
What is important for Nagelsmann first is confirmation of pot 1. This means: Brazil, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and the three hosts are also possible opponents in the knockout phase at the earliest. This was only secured by the 6-0 win against Slovakia in Leipzig the previous week, which also booked the direct final round ticket.
Völler relieved about pot 1 in the World Cup draw
With the sweeping win against the Slovaks, captain Joshua Kimmich and his colleagues finally overtook Italy and are in the important ninth place in the November world rankings. “We are happy that we managed to do it in the last few meters,” said sports director Rudi Völler.
After an unusually long wait, the world association announced the procedure for the big lottery show at the John F. Kennedy Center in the US capital. One new feature is that defending champions Argentina and European champions Spain, if they win the group, will only play against each other in the final at the earliest. Duels with France and England are only possible in the semi-finals, provided these teams also finish first in the group. The rule has no impact on the DFB team’s tournament path as ninth in the world rankings.
The lottery pots at a glance:
Draw pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Draw pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Draw pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
Draw pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, UEFA Playoff A (Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina), UEFA Playoff B (Ukraine, Sweden, Poland, Albania), UEFA Playoff C (Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, Kosovo), UEFA Playoff D (Denmark, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Ireland), FIFA Playoff 1 (New Caledonia, Jamaica, Democratic Republic of Congo), FIFA Playoff 2 (Bolivia, Suriname, Iraq)