World Cup seedings: England in Pot 1 and could face group of death with Germany

The 2022 World Cup is now just months away and England are among the countries anxiously waiting to find out who they will face in the group stage.

The tournament in Qatar will be the last to follow a 32-team format before FIFA expands it to 48 teams at the 2026 edition in North America.

As such, the World Cup will once again be split into eight groups of four, as has been the case since the last revamp in 1998.

The draw is scheduled to take place on Friday, April 1 in Doha, Qatar.

England’s 5th placed spot in the FIFA World Rankings has meant they will be entering Pot 1 – which will include the top seven sides in the world standings plus hosts Qatar.

The Three Lions are being joined by Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, Spain and Portugal.

Euro 2020 champions Italy, who are ranked sixth in the world, were knocked out by North Macedonia in the play-offs.

As Italy are out of the running, Pot 2 will consist of teams who 9th to 16th in FIFA’s rankings and unfortunately for England, some European heavyweights can still be drawn against them.

World No 9 Mexico will be in it as will No 10 Netherlands and arch-rivals Germany, who are 12th in the rankings.

The likes of Denmark, USA and Switzerland are also in the second pot.

Croatia, who lost against Gareth Southgate’s side in their Euros opener but beat them in Russia 2018, are also among the teams in Pot 2 as are Uruguay.

The next eight best-ranked qualifiers will be placed in Pot 3 featuring AFCON champions Senegal.

Japan, Morocco and South Korea could also await England.

Poland and Serbia will be in Pot 3 and could be drawn with England if the Three Lions are not handed a UEFA side from Pot 2.

Iran and Tunisia make up that pot.

Finally, Pot 4 will include the next five best-ranked FIFA sides plus the three placeholders representing the two winners of the intercontinental play-offs and the remaining UEFA play-off winner.

Cameroon, Canada, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia and Ghana are already in Pot 4.

Scotland or Wales could also be in Pot 4 and potentially end up facing England should they come through their play-offs and the Three Lions avoid other UEFA sides.