Ahead of Friday's World Cup draw, FIFA confirmed the pots in which the eight groups at next year's World Cup in Brazil will be drawn.
Along with its CONCACAF brethren Mexico, Honduras and Costa Rica, the United States has been placed in Pot 3 with qualifying countries from Asia. The top seeded countries of host Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium are in Pot 1. African nations populate Pot 2, while the remaining European countries lie in Pot 4.
One nation from each of the eight pots will be placed in each group, while one European country from Pot 4 will be drawn over to Pot 2 to make the pots even. Nations will be drawn from pots in numerical order to fill-out the eight four-team World Cup groups until all 32 teams have been drawn. Countries will be re-drawn should they come from the same qualifying zone.
The draw for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil will take place on Friday at 11:30 a.m. ET from Costa do Sauipe, Brazil.
FIFA WORLD CUP POTS
Pot 1 (8): Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium
Pot 2 (7): Algeria, Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Chile, Ecuador
Pot 3 (8): United States, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Iran
Pot 4 (9): Italy, Netherlands, England, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Russia, Portugal, France
