Top seeds now set for World Cup draw, playoffs

The top-seeded teams for the Dec. 5 World Cup tournament draw, including Germany but not Croatia, were set Wednesday when FIFA published new rankings the day after four continents completed qualifying.

Co-hosts the United States, Canada and Mexico will be joined in the pot of No. 1 seeds by top-ranked Spain, defending champions Argentina, France, England, Portugal, Brazil, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

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Croatia, semifinalists in 2022 and beaten finalists by France in 2018, were edged down into Pot 2 for the draw ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., which President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend.

The updated FIFA rankings also decided seeding for the draw Thursday for playoff brackets in March that will decide the final six entries in the expanded 48-nation lineup.

The 22 playoff teams include 16 in Europe playing for four World Cup places and six from the other regions chasing two spots in the intercontinental brackets.

Italy are the headliner in the European brackets as the four-time world champions aim to avoid a humiliating third straight exit in the playoffs.

The 12th-ranked Italians were pushed into the playoffs after finishing as runners-up in a qualifying group won by Norway. Erling Haaland's Norwegian team shapes up as a dangerous option from Pot 3 in two weeks' time.

Italy will be drawn Thursday at home against a fourth-seeded team. That could again be North Macedonia, who shockingly eliminated the Italians in 2022.

The winner on March 26 advances to a playoff final five days later against the team that emerges from the No. 2 seed vs. No. 3 seed pairing in its knockout bracket. Home advantage in the single-game playoff finals will be decided by the draw Thursday and not FIFA ranking.

The teams that eventually emerge from the four separate European playoff brackets are expected to be placeholders from low-ranked Pot 4 in the Dec. 5 draw.

The intercontinental brackets will see top-seeded Iraq and Congo each await the winner of playoff semifinals that involve Bolivia, Jamaica, New Caledonia and Suriname.

European playoffs seedings

Pot 1: Italy, Denmark, Turkey, Ukraine.

Pot 2: Poland, Wales, Czechia, Slovakia.

Pot 3: Republic of Ireland, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo.

Pot 4: Northern Ireland, Romania, Sweden, North Macedonia.

Intercontinental playoffs

Seeded: Congo, Iraq.

Unseeded: Bolivia, Jamaica, New Caledonia, Suriname.