The ceremony for the 2022 Qatar World Cup schedule will begin at 4 p.m. GMT, midday ET, 7 p.m. local time in Doha, Qatar, on Friday, April 1.
The pots for Friday’s draw are set after Mexico and the United States booked the final two automatic spots on Wednesday.
The United States made sure of its place despite a 2-0 loss at Costa Rica, while Mexico also sealed a berth with a 2-0 victory at home to El Salvador; both will be in Pot 2.
Canada missed out on a place in Pot 3 after losing 1-0 to Panama and will instead be in Pot 4.
Pot 1 contains the hosts, Qatar, along with strongest seven nations according to the new FIFA World Ranking, which will be officially published on Thursday ahead of the draw.
Pot 1:
Qatar
Brazil
Belgium
France
Argentina
England
Spain
Portugal
The other pots are filled in order of the FIFA World Ranking, apart from Pot 4, which contains the five lowest-ranked nations along with the winners of the three remaining playoffs (two intercontinental and the outstanding UEFA path involving Ukraine that are due to be played in June).
Pot 2:
Mexico
Netherlands
Denmark
Germany
Uruguay
Switzerland
United States
Croatia
Pot 3:
Senegal
IR Iran
Japan
Morocco
Serbia
Poland
South Korea
Tunisia
Pot 4:
Cameroon
Canada
Ecuador
Saudi Arabia
Ghana
Wales or Scotland / Ukraine
Costa Rica or New Zealand
Peru or Australia / United Arab Emirates
One team from the four pots will be in each group. Five of the eight groups will have a maximum of two European teams, as 13 qualify. There can be no more than one team from any other confederation. So, for instance, the United States cannot be drawn against Canada, and Brazil is unable to be in a group with Uruguay.
It also means heavyweights Germany and Netherlands will be drawn against a team from Pot 1 and face the strong possibility of a difficult group for the finals, which will be held between Nov. 21 and Dec. 18 in Qatar.
Mexico narrowly missed out on a place in Pot 1 and would have been seeded had Portugal been knocked out by North Macedonia in the UEFA playoffs.
