Pot 1: USA, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
The fourth pot has a special feature. Unlike in the other three pots, not all participants have been confirmed yet. The final six World Cup participants will not be determined until March in the European and intercontinental playoffs.
Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand. There are also the four winners of the European and the two winners of the intercontinental playoff tournament.
In the draw, the six missing World Cup participants will be drawn as placeholders. The four UEFA teams are logically classified as European teams. The two intercontinental playoffs feature teams from Oceania, North America and Africa in one round and teams from North and South America and Asia in the other. This limits the allocation of these two placeholders significantly. An example: If Germany gets Senegal from Pot 2, no team from the first intercontinental playoff tournament could end up in the same group. Because: The African team could prevail here in March. However, two African teams in one World Cup group are not possible.
These teams could qualify for the World Cup in March via the playoffs:
Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Poland, Albania, Slovakia, Kosovo, Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Northern Ireland, Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Romania, Denmark, North Macedonia, Bolivia, Suriname, New Caledonia, Jamaica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq.
Julian Nagelsmann has already set the World Cup title as a goal for the German national team after the 2024 European Championships. On the way to the big triumph, the DFB team will probably have to deal with several top opponents.
The reason: The tournament tree is divided into four parts. The top four nations in the world rankings are each assigned to one of the quarters. These teams are Spain, Argentina, France and England. The division means that if these teams win their group, they will only meet in the semi-finals at the earliest. The duel between Spain and Argentina is only possible in the final, just like France against England.
Germany, on the other hand, is threatened with up to three of these top teams as opponents after the preliminary round, provided they finish their group as winners as expected. The first of these teams will be waiting for the DFB selection in the quarterfinals at the latest. In this scenario, two more top opponents would follow in the semifinals and final.