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Twenty-nine nations will find out their 2022 FIFA World Cup group-stage opponents on Friday.
The draw in Doha, Qatar will place four teams into each of the eight groups for the tournament that begins November 21.
The United States men’s national team and Mexico became the latest squads to qualify for the World Cup on Wednesday night.
The three remaining spots in the competition will be determined by two intercontinental playoffs and one European playoff.
The three unknown participants will be placed into Pot 4 alongside the five lowest-ranked nations in the FIFA World Rankings among the 29 known qualifiers.
Qatar is in Pot 1 as the host nation alongside the seven-best teams in the 32-team field according to the rankings.
The USMNT and Mexico have landed in Pot 2 with the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Croatia, Germany and Uruguay. The North American nations can’t be in the same group as teams in their pot.
2022 FIFA World Cup Draw Info
Date: Friday, April 1
Start Time: Noon ET
TV: FS1 and Telemundo
Live Stream: Fox Sports app and FoxSports.com
Preview
The USMNT and Mexico completed the list of 29 pre-draw World Cup qualifiers on Wednesday.
The North American rivals finished behind Canada in the three automatic qualifying spots out of CONCACAF.
El Tri and the USMNT have been placed in Pot 2 for Friday’s draw. That means they will avoid a tough draw against two top European teams. Serbia and Poland are the only European squads in Pot 3 and one of Wales, Scotland or Ukraine will go into Pot 4.
The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland and Croatia will be alongside the USMNT, Mexico and Uruguay in Pot 2.
Those five European nations could be drawn against Belgium, France, England, Spain or Portugal from Pot 1.
Five groups will have multiple European nations because of the number of UEFA squads that earn berths to the World Cup.
No other confederation can have its teams chosen to play each other in the group stage. That means the USMNT and Mexico can’t draw Canada from Pot 3 or Costa Rica from Pot 4. The Ticos play New Zealand in an intercontinental playoff in June.
Canada is, arguably, the strongest side in Pot 4. Alphonso Davies, Cyle Larin and Co. will hope for the best possible draw out of the final pot. Its ideal group could include Qatar, Uruguay and either Serbia or Poland from Pot 3.
Qatar will open the draw in position A1. The host nation will play the opening match on November 21 against the squad drawn into spot A2. The USMNT could land in that spot.
There is also the potential for the Americans to play on Thanksgiving Day to start off their World Cup campaign. Groups G and H open play on November 24.
The group stage will take place from November 21-December 2. The knockout round starts on December 4, and the final is December 18.
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