FIFA has officially announced the three remaining pots for the upcoming World Cup draw Friday at 11 a.m. EST.
The first pot of the draw includes Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Switzerland and Uruguay.
The second pot is comprised of two South American sides and all of the African nations. It includes Chile, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Algeria, Nigeria and Cameroon. Pot three includes the teams from Asia and the CONCACAF. It is made up of Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Costa Rica, Mexico, Honduras and the United States. The final pot is made up of only European teams and includes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, England, Portugal and Russia.
One team from each pot will be drawn into a group meaning that teams from a single pot will not face off against one another. For example, the United States and Mexico cannot face off in the group stage because they are both in Pot three. There is one caveat, however, as Pot four has nine teams and pot two only has seven. To compensate, FIFA will take one ball from Pot four and place it in Pot two. While this may indicate that there is a possibility of three European teams in one group, reports state that the European seed from Pot two will automatically be placed with one of the South American top seeds from pot one. To avoid this further, FIFA will take all of the South American seeds from Pot one and place them in another Pot (X), which will be drawn with the European seed from Pot two.
While any draw is possible, there is a chance that the superstars Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal, Lionel Messi of Argentina and Franck Ribery of France could wind up in the same group if Portugal or France is placed into Pot two and is subsequently drawn into the same group as Argentina.