ENGLAND secured their World Cup qualifying spot back in November but they finally get to find out their group stage fate TOMORROW.
The Three Lions comfortably topped Group I – going on an unbeaten 10-game run where they accumulated 26 points.
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And whilst a number of nations were battling it out for a plane ticket to Qatar within the last two weeks, Gareth Southgate’s men were securing international friendly victories against Switzerland and Ivory Coast.
But the countdown to the 2022 World Cup officially starts with the draw on Friday and here are the possible scenarios England could be facing.
What are the pots for the World Cup?
The pots are determined by current FIFA rankings.
- Pot 1: Qatar, Brazil, Belgium, France, Portugal, England, Argentina, Spain.
- Pot 2: Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Mexico, USA, Uruguay, Croatia.
- Pot 3: Japan, Serbia, Iran, Morocco, South Korea, Senegal, Poland, Canada.
- Pot 4: Ecuador, Cameroon, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Peru, Wales, Costa Rica.
Which teams can be in England’s group?
England will avoid a lot of the big boys early on in the competition because FIFA state that teams in the same pot cannot be put into the same group.
However, with old foes Germany sitting in 12th spot on the FIFA leaderboards at the moment, they have gone into Pot 2 which could potentially see the Three Lions and the Germans paired in the same group.
Another potentially difficult group candidate are the Africa Cup of Nations champions Senegal who beat Egypt over two legs to book their spot in footballs biggest competition.
And the tricky customers from Pot 4 could be Ghana who scraped a win over bitter rivals Nigeria in their qualifying match, along with England’s fellow British companions Wales.
But the Three Lions can only have wales in their group if they do not get any of the European sides in Pot 2 or Pot 3 because FIFA are wanting to separate teams geographically too.
What is England’s best and worst case scenarios?
England will fancy themselves to get far in this edition of the World Cup based on their wide range of talented stars.
And the Three Lions have avoided teams such as Brazil, Portugal and the current holders France in the group stages.
But Gareth Southgate will still be hoping that his side can be put in the easiest group on paper possible.
Best case scenario: USA, Canada, Saudi Arabia
Worst case scenario: Germany, Senegal, Wales