Hector Vivas – FIFA/FIFA by way of Getty Photographs 
The draw will divide the 48 groups into 12 teams of 4. The groups shall be pulled from 4 separate pots, which can be made up our minds via the groups’ scores.
Pot 1 contains the 3 host nations — the U.S., Canada and Mexico — together with Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Pot 2 is Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, the Korea Republic, Ecuador, Austria and Australia.
Pot 3 is Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
Pot 4 is Jordan, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand and the 4 final playoff groups that shall be made up our minds in March.
Groups in Pot 1 shall be positioned within the most sensible place of the gang they’re drawn into. Two groups in the similar confederation — the regional teams FIFA splits world groups into — can’t be positioned into the similar staff, excluding for the Ecu confederation UEFA, which has extra groups than there are teams.
All over the gang level, the groups in a given staff play each and every different in a round-robin layout. On the finish of the gang level, the highest two groups from each and every staff and the highest 8 third-place groups throughout all teams advance to the knockout level.
The knockout level is a single-elimination layout, wherein groups face off in a bracket layout and should win so as to advance to the following around, with 5 general rounds: the Spherical of 32, the Spherical of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and the Ultimate.
There may be a third-place fit performed between the losers of the Semifinals.
