The 32-team field for next summer's World Cup 2014 has been set, and now the focus shifts to
December's draw and the unique selection process that will determine the make-up of all eight
groups ahead of next year's tournament in Brazil.
Five-time World Cup champions Brazil are the host nation and will therefore join the seven-
best ranked qualified teams in Pot 1. As a result, Brazil won't have to face fellow favorites like
Spain, Germany or Argentina until the knockout stage.
Meanwhile, the United States will await their fate in Pot 2, which means the Americans will
likely draw one of the world's football giants. The U.S. could be really unlucky and draw either
the Netherlands or Italy from Pot 4 in addition to one of the favorites.

The 32 qualified squads will be split up into four pots consisting of eight teams each. Pot 1,
also known as the seeded pot, will include the host nation Brazil as well as the top-seven
ranked countries as rated in FIFA's October 2013 rankings.


The other three pots are determined by region.
The second pot will likely consist of AFC (Asia) and CONCACAF (North America, Central America
and Caribbean) qualifiers, while Pot 3 will be made up of qualifying CAF (Africa) teams,
CONMEBOL (South America) teams and one UEFA (Europe) qualifier as no team from the OFC
(Oceania) secured a berth. The final pot will include remaining UEFA qualifiers, including World
Cup 2010 runners-up Holland, who missed out on the seeded pot by just two points in the
rankings.


Pot 1::::::::::::::::::::Pot 2:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Pot3:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Pot 3

Brazil(Host):::::::::::Japan::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Ivory Coast:::::::::::::::Netherlands
Spain::::::::::::::::::::::Iran::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Ghana::::::::::::::::::::::::Italy
Germany::::::::::::::Korea Republic:::::::::::::::::Algeria::::::::::::::::::::::::England
Argentina::::::::::::::Australia:::::::::::::::::::::::::::Nigeria:::::::::::::::::::::::::Portugal
Colombia::::::::::::::United States::::::::::::::::::Cameroon:::::::::::::::::::Greece
Belgium::::::::::::::::::Mexico:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::Chile:::::::::::::::::::::::::::Bosnia-Herzegovina
Uruguay::::::::::::::::Costa Rica::::::::::::::::::::::::Ecuador:::::::::::::::::::::::Croatia
Switzerland:::::::::::Honduras::::::::::::::::::::::::::France*:::::::::::::::::::::::Russia

One team will be drawn from each pot to form a group. The process will then be repeated
seven more times. Therefore, Group A will consist of Brazil from Pot 1, one team from Pot 2,
one from Pot 3 and one from Pot 4.


www.bleacherreport.com/articles/1861476-world-cup-2014-draw-explaining-pots-seedings-format-and-selection-process