Around 2000 guests, 700 media representatives broadcasting live in 170 countries have descended on St Petersburg as the footballing world prepares for the draw for World Cup Qualification. On Saturday, at 17:00 CEST, the draw for Qualification to the 2018 World Cup will be made in the Constantine Palace. Hosts Russia have promised a cultural mega event under the theme of ‘The Dream’. After the draw, the route to the World Cup should become clear – including for Die Mannschaft. DFB.de has prepared an explanation of the draw, and more.
Where is the draw taking place?
In the host country of course. The Russian city of St. Petersburg is the location for the draw. And it will be in the Constantine Palace, whose construction took almost a century, where the path to the World Cup becomes known. “St. Petersburg is the perfect place for the symbolic first step on the long road to the World Cup,” explains FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke ahead of the draw which will involve 141 teams worldwide. “Over 840 games will be played before we know which teams will be in Russia for the finals.” The tournament itself will take place in eleven Russian cities from 14th June until 15th July 2018.
Who is there from the DFB and who is doing the draw?
Oliver Bierhoff, general manager of Die Mannschaft, and DFB general secretary Helmut Sandrock are leading the German delegation. Bierhoff is also changed with another mission as he will support FIFA general secretary Valcke during the draw. And he will be in good company on stage, with former Footballer of the Year Ronaldo (Brazil), Fabio Cannavaro (Italy), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon) and Russians Rinat Dasayev and Alexander Kerzhekov all helping out with the draw.
Is Die Mannschaft seeded in the draw?
Yes, Germany must first qualify for the tournament despite being World Champions, but they will be in pot 1. For European Qualification, FIFA’s world rankings are used to decide the seedings, and Germany is currently ranked second in the list. Admittedly, Die Mannschaft could end up in the same group as France or Italy, with both countries in pot 2. A total of 52 teams will be divided into nine groups for European qualification, including seven groups of six teams and two of five.
What does Germany coach Joachim Löw say?
Löw talks about the new method by saying, “we can’t complain because we’ve always done well. In the end, the best teams always get through. It’s a new method to use the world rankings, and if it were to lead to pairings with Italy or France, they would be interesting matches.”
What are the European seedings?
Pot 1
Germany 1411
Belgium 1244
Netherlands 1204
Portugal 1177
Romania 1166
England 1157
Wales 1155
Spain 1110
Croatia 1023
Pot 2
Slovakia 1016
Austria 1016
Italy 1001
Switzerland 997
Czech Republic 933
France 882
Island 877
Denmark 876
Bosnia and Herzegovina 819
Pot 3
Ukraine 791
Scotland 774
Poland 769
Hungary 763
Sweden 752
Albania 722
Northern Ireland 721
Serbia 662
Greece 661
Pot 4
Turkey 627
Slovenia 626
Israel 620
Ireland 608
Norway 495
Bulgaria 489
Faroe Islands 456
Montenegro 423
Estonia 420
Pot 5
Cyprus 391
Latvia 377
Armenia 373
Finland 371
Belarus 341
Macedonia 311
Azerbaijan 302
Lithuania 301
Moldova 236
Pot 6
Kazakhstan 193
Luxemburg 187
Liechtenstein 182
Georgia 165
Malta 157
San Marino 40
Andorra 9
Who qualifies from Europe?
The set-up has already been decided. The nine group winners and the winners of the playoffs between the eight best runners-up will qualify for the World Cup finals. That makes a total of 13 places for Europe. Russia have qualified automatically as the host. European qualification begins on 4th September 2016 and ends on 10th October 2017. The playoff matches should take place in November 2017.
How are all the places divided?
FIFA’s Executive Committee is responsible for this. The allocation of places for each continental association was decided by the ExCo at an extraordinary meeting on 30th May 2015. The allocation remains the same as that of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil:
• Host: 1 place (for Russia)
• Europe: 13 places
• Africa: 5 places
• Asia and Australia: 4.5 places*
• South America: 4.5 places*
• North, Central America and the Caribbean: 3.5 places*
• Oceania: 0.5 places*
For four associations (marked by *), one potential place at the finals is dependent on an intercontinental playoff over two legs. The country that wins the playoff will take part in the 2018 World Cup. It will also be decided in St Petersburg on Saturday which confederations will face each other in the intercontinental playoffs.
