England are set to find out who they will take on in the group stages ahead of next summer’s tournament after a flawless qualification under Thomas Tuchel.
England will be drawn from Pot 1 alongside the three host nations – USA, Mexico, and Canada – and the other top eight teams according to their FIFA men’s rankings for November.
Teams from Africa, Asia and the Americas can’t be drawn into the same group as another team from their confederation, and none of the USA, Mexico or Canada can be drawn with the Concacaf qualifiers, which so far are Haiti, Curacao and Panama.
Standard Sport takes a look at England’s dream and nightmare scenarios ahead of Friday’s draw…
From Pots 2 and 3, England could potentially be drawn alongside Uruguay and Norway in what would be considered a nightmare for Tuchel’s men.
Uruguay, led by Marcelo Bielsa, qualified fourth from the CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers and boast the likes of Federico Valverde and Darwin Nunez among their ranks.
Uruguay famously beat England in sweltering conditions during the 2014 World Cup and would expect to provide a similarly stern test next summer.
Norway, meanwhile, have qualified for their first World Cup since 1998.
The country’s golden generation, with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland and Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard spearheading their attack, have underperformed on the international stage.
However, they are stacked full of talent and scored far and away the most goals of any European team during qualification.
Erling Haaland has helped fire Norway to the World Cup
NTB/AFP via Getty Images
England should be confident against many of the teams in Pot 4, especially if they can’t be paired with another European nation. That said, Ghana would represent an awkward test with the likes of Mohammed Kudus leading the charge.
A group containing Austria, Uzbekistan and tournament debutants Curacao would represent a dream scenario for England.
New Caledonia, who are ranked 149th in the world, are among the other teams England would preferably like to be drawn against. Though the OFC qualifiers must beat Jamaica and then DR Congo in the inter-confederation play-offs to book a spot at next summer’s tournament.
Dream scenario for England
England, Austria, Uzbekistan, Curacao
Nightmare scenario for England
England, Uruguay, Norway, Ghana
