FIFA’s decision has been made: Julian Nagelsmann will be spared a very difficult start to the World Cup. However, since the rules have not been changed, difficult groups are still possible for DFB teams.
After a long wait, FIFA officially confirmed it: Julian Nagelsmann has nothing to fear from early duels with the main favorites Argentina, Spain and France in the World Cup with the national team. The DFB team will be represented in Pot 1 of the best teams in the draw on December 5 (6pm/CET) in Washington.
However, the DFB team could face difficult opponents in the group phase of the final round in America, Mexico and Canada. The world association did not introduce new seeding rules for playoff candidates such as Italy or Denmark, as recently expected. They ended up in the worst pot of 4.
Diaz, Salah and Italy as a threatening backdrop
A World Cup group with Colombia around Bayern star Luis Díaz, Egypt with Mohamed Salah and old rivals Italy is possible, provided the four-time champions still get a World Cup ticket.
The group with Uruguay, Norway around Erling Haaland and Ghana will also be a challenge. But very small variants are also possible: Iran, Panama, New Zealand would be in the same constellation or group with Austria and World Cup newcomers Uzbekistan and Curaçao.
Völler is relieved about pot 1
With a crushing victory against Slovakia, captain Joshua Kimmich and company finally overtook Italy and are in the important ninth place in November’s world rankings. “We are happy that we managed to do it in the last few meters,” said sports director Rudi Völler.
After a very long wait, the world association announced the procedure of a big lottery show at the John F. Kennedy Center in the US capital.
One of the new features is that defending champion Argentina and European champion Spain, if they win the group, will only face each other in the final at the earliest. The duel with France and England can only be played in the semifinals provided these teams also finish first in the group. These rules have no impact on the tournament path of the DFB team which is ranked ninth in the world.
Lottery pot at a glance:
Pot image 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, UK, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Pot image 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Pot image 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
Drawing pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, UEFA Playoff A (Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina), UEFA Playoff B (Ukraine, Sweden, Poland, Albania), UEFA Playoff C (Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, Kosovo), UEFA Playoff D (Denmark, North Macedonia, Czech Republic, Ireland), FIFA Playoff 1 (New Caledonia, Jamaica, Democratic Republic of the Congo), FIFA Playoff 2 (Bolivia, Suriname, Iraq)
