The United States became the final team in the March international window, alongside CONCACAF rivals Mexico, to qualify directly for the 2022 World Cup.
With just three spots left to fill, the World Cup draw is moving forward full steam Rodger Saffold Jerseys ahead on Friday, April 1 with 29 teams and three placeholders allotted for the three berths that remain to be decided in June.
With the World Cup draw now complete, the United States was drawn into Group B alongside England, Iran, and the undetermined winner of the UEFA playoff Path A.
After FIFAjust prior to the draw, below is the breakdown of the pots used during the World Cup draw to select United States, Canada and Mexico among the other 29 teams in the World Cup. El Tri was in Pot 2, as was the USA ,while Canada was in the last pot (Pot 4).
MORE:
World Cup Draw Pots
The top eight teams based on the FIFA Rankings go in Pot 1, the next best eight teams in Pot 2, and so on. Pot 4 contains the three placeholders for the spots yet to be claimed.
Pot groupings follow below with each team's March 2022 FIFA World Ranking in parentheses.(*Qatar is in Pot 1 as host nation).
Pot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4Qatar (51)*Mexico (9)Senegal (20)Cameroon (37)Brazil (1)Netherlands (10)Iran (21)Canada (38)Belgium (2)Denmark (11)Japan (23)Ecuador (46)France (3)Germany (12)Morocco (24)Saudi Arabia (49)Argentina (4)Uruguay (13)Serbia (25)Ghana (60)England (5)Switzerland (14)Poland (26)Intercont'l Playoff 1Spain (7)USA (15)South Korea (29)Intercont'l Playoff 2Portugal (8)Croatia (16)Tunisia (35)Euro Playoff
MORE: Tyler Bass Jerseys
How did the World Cup draw work?
The FIFA World Cup draw took place April 1 at 12 p.m. ET in Doha, Qatar.
All participating teams were placed into four pots based on relative strength according to the FIFA rankings as explained above. During the draw, one team was selected from each of the pots to make up each of the eight groups. The idea is that all Levi Wallace Jerseys the groups are constructed to be as competitively balanced as po sible with a team from Pot 1, another from Pot 2, Pot 3 and Pot 4.
No group can have two nations from the same region, except when it comes to Europe. Since there are 13 European nations involved in the draw, a maximum of two teams from Europe is permitted in each group. If a team was drawn, but cannot be accommodated in the group it's drawn to join due to geographic restrictions, it was shuffled along to the next group in sequence.
Still, every tournament invariably has new wrinkles.
For the 2022 World Cup, COVID-19 delays throughout the two-year World Cup qualifying cycle have caused a logjam in the soccer calendar with games pushed back. That resulted in qualifying delays, leading to the intercontinental playoffs to be pushed back to June 2022. In addition, the war in Ukraine saw Ru sia disqualified from contention, Isaiah McKenzie Jerseys while Ukraine's playoff match was postponed until the summer as well.
As a result, for purposes of the draw, FIFA designated placeholders for the three outstanding berths and placed them by default in Pot 4. That designation may not ultimately turn out to be an accurate reflection of the strength and ranking of the teams that will emerge in June.
Teams like Ukraine (No. 27), Wales (No. 18), or Peru (No. 22) would have earned a different pot status had the playoffs been decided before the draw. A number of groups could see the competitive balance shifted depending on who earns the yet undecided spots. But there were few options at FIFA's disposal outside of postponing the draw.
MORE:
USA pot for FIFA World Cup draw
The United States had an outside chance of finding itself in Pot 1 of the World Cup draw, but that would have required a number of results that did not come to pa s.
As a result, the United States was drawn from Pot 2 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup draw.
Ranked 15th in the FIFA World Rankings in March 2022 (down from 13th in February), Duke Johnson Jerseys the results from the March qualifying window a draw in Mexico, a win against Panama and a lo s to Costa Rica didn't impact the USA's world ranking enough to see it move up into Pot 1 or down to Pot 3.
MORE:
Canada and Mexico pots for World Cup draw
Mexico, which ranks 9th in the March rankings (up from 12th in February), finished second in the CONCACAF qualifying table, joined the USA inPot 2.
El Tri also wasn't able to make the leap into Pot 1, while a precipitous drop to Pot 3 was never on the cards.
MORE:
Canada, meanwhile, was selected fromPot 4, which is Tyrel Dodson Jerseys the group of lowest-ranked teams at the World Cup.
Despite Les Rouges topping the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying table and securing a berth to its first World Cup in 37 years, two lo ses in three March matches (to Costa Rica and Panama) saw the team drop into Pot 4 at the last second, with a chance to move into Pot 3 evaporated.
A win against Panama in the final regional qualifier would have seen it potentially jump into Pot 3.