Following FIFA revealing the procedure for tomorrow's Final Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil we unravel exactly how it will work.
Following FIFA revealing the procedure for tomorrow's Final Draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil we unravel exactly how it will work.
The Final Draw explained
The 32 qualifiers for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil have been separated into four pots, There will be one pot of seeded teams, with the other three separated according to geographical location.
The seven highest seeded teams, according to October-s FIFA World Rankings, will be placed in Pot 1, along with hosts Brazil. The other 24 teams are placed in Pots 2, 3 & 4 on the basis of the regions they are from.
Pots 1-4 will be populated as follows: o Pot 1 - Seeded teams (8) * o Pot 2 - Africa (5), South America (2) o Pot 3 - Asia (4), North and Central America & Caribbean (4) o Pot 4 - Europe (9)
*Seeded teams: Brazil (hosts), Belgium, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay.
Teams of the same Qualification Zone cannot be drawn into the same Group, with the exception of a maximum of two European teams in any one group.
Pots will be emptied in order: 1 through 4; with Groups filled sequentially: A through H
Seeded teams (countries from Pot 1) are automatically assigned position “1” of the Group into which they are drawn. The remaining nations will have their positions randomly drawn.
Before the main draw starts a European team from Pot 4 will be randomly drawn and placed in Pot 2, so that all Pots begin with eight teams.
This country will be drawn to play with one of the four South American seeds in Pot 1 (to ensure 3 European teams don't end up in the same Group).
Brazil is the only team with their position already confirmed and will take its place as the tournament hosts in A1 - Group A Position 1.
The other 31 teams are then drawn from their Pot, starting with the 7 remaining teams in Pot 1, and placed in one of eight Groups, A to H, until each pot is emptied before moving onto the next.
The positions within Groups A through H will then be drawn for all teams of Pots 2, 3 and 4
The venues for all matches have already been decided including the opening match in Sao Paulo between Brazil and the team placed in Group A Position 2 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final in Rio De Janeiro.
World Cup Draw - Live Coverage
Follow all the action live from the World Cup draw at www.socceroos.com.au/worldcupdraw, your one stop shop for all the news and reaction from across the web. Live 3am AEDT 7/12/13
Frequently asked questions
Could the Socceroos draw England in the Group stage?
Yes. The only teams Socceroos cannot draw in the Group stage are other Pot 3 teams Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico and USA.
Could the Socceroos draw Brazil, Italy and England in the Group stage?
Yes. Those three nations could potentially all fall in Pots 1,2 and 4, thus the Socceroos would have a chance of drawing all three.
What would be the toughest group scenario for the Socceroos?
This is hard to say but according to the current FIFA World Rankings, the three highest ranked teams on average we could draw in the same group are Argentina (3), Portugal (5) and Italy (7).
What would be the easiest group scenario for the Socceroos?
Arguably there will be no easy group for the Socceroos considering we are the lowest ranked team in the draw, but based on current FIFA World Rankings the three lowest ranked teams we could hope to draw would be Belgium (11), Russia (22) and Cameroon (51).
Could the Socceroos play any other Asian teams?
No. The other Asian teams have also been placed in Pot 3 so will be randomly drawn to other Groups.
What teams could the Socceros draw in the Group stage that we've never played before at international level?
The Socceroos have never played and could meet Algeria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cameroon, Ecuador, Portugal and Spain.
When does the draw take place?
The 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Final Draw starts at 3.00am AEDT and will be broadcast live on SBS1.
Who will draw the teams out of their pots?
Brazilian actors Fernanda Lima and Rodrigo Hilbert will host the draw, with balls to be drawn by famous players from previous tournaments. These will include England's Sir Geoff Hurst, France's Zinedine Zidane, Brazil's Cafu and Italy's Fabio Cannavaro.