USA Soccercast, Episode 164: Analyzing the World Cup Draw options

The World Cup Draw is a few days away, and we react to the pots and procedures on Episode 164!

The World Cup Draw procedures and pots were released earlier in the week, and the USMNT knows which teams it could draw for each match in the group stage. We take a look at the draw, who is in each pot, and which teams the USMNT could draw for each match of the group stage. As a reminder, the pots for the World Cup Draw, which takes place on December 5th (FIFA ranking in parentheses):

Pot 1 – United States (14), Mexico (15), Canada (27), Spain (1), Argentina (2), France (3), England (4), Brazil (5), Portugal (6), Netherlands (7), Belgium (8), Germany (9)

Pot 2 – Croatia (10), Morocco (11), Colombia (13), Uruguay (16), Switzerland (17), Japan (18), Senegal (19), Iran (20), South Korea (22), Ecuador (23), Austria (24), Australia (26)

Pot 3 – Norway (29), Panama (30), Egypt (34), Algeria (35), Scotland (36), Paraguay (39), Tunisia (40), Ivory Coast (42), Uzbekistan (50), Qatar (51), Saudi Arabia (60), South Africa (61)

Pot 4 – Jordan (66), Cape Verde (68), Ghana (72), Curaçao (82), Haiti (84), New Zealand (86), UEFA Playoff A winner, UEFA Playoff B winner, UEFA Playoff C winner, UEFA Playoff D winner, Inter-confederation Playoff Path 1 winner, Inter-confederation Playoff Path 2 winner

We look at how the draw will work and the new pathways that have been created for the top teams.

After the break, we ask the questions: what is the ideal group for the USMNT? Conversely, what is the group to avoid? There are some teams that could be favorable for the USMNT to face, particularly when they would face them. There are also some doomsday options that would pose some real concerns for the team and make the group stage a real effort.

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