By the end of the day England will know their group stage opponents for this winter’s 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
A comfortable path through their qualification sets the Three Lions up for not only a place in the group stage, but also a seeding among the top teams.
As a Pot 1 side, England are guaranteed to avoid the world’s top nations and hosts Qatar, with the pots based on Fifa’s rankings system.
But it does mean plenty of very good teams, rivals and banana skins could pop up when the draw is made at 5pm on Friday.
Here, we detail the teams that could pop up for Gareth Southgate’s side...
Pot 2
Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Mexico, United States, Switzerland, Croatia, Uruguay
Put simply, there are no easy teams in the second pot with all eight very capable of causing England problems, with many having done so not long ago.
The Dutch and Germans have natural prowess, even if the Three Lions beat the latter at Euro 2020. Likewise, Denmark were downed in the semi-finals last summer but went unbeaten without conceding against England in their 2020 Nations League meetings.
Mexico and the United States confirmed their places as CONCACAF qualifying wrapped up on Wednesday night.
Pot 3
Senegal, Iran, Japan, Morocco, Serbia, Poland, South Korea, Tunisia
England can be confident of getting the better of any Pot 3 team, with the European duo of Serbia and Poland arguably holding the most threat.
Only a late Harry Maguire header secured Southgate a victory over Poland in qualification for this World Cup, before a 1-1 draw in Warsaw. That said, the Poles have only ever won one of their 21 meetings - in 1973.
African champions Senegal will hope to reach the knockouts whereas Canada, after 36 years away from the world stage, could be a banana skin opponent. Fifa will confirm which pot they and Tunisia will land in on Thursday.
Pot 4
Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Ghana, Cameroon, Canada, UAE/Australia/Peru, Costa Rica/New Zealand Wales/Scotland/Ukraine
Fifa rankings will not apply to the final Uefa play-off route due to the delay in Ukraine’s semi-final with Scotland, and few will fancy playing either of those teams, nor Wales who the winner will face in June.
Should England be drawn against another European team before the final pot is drawn. they will have to face teams from other continents in Pots 3 and 4.
Peru will face off with either the UAE or Australia in another play-off route, as the fifth-best South American team and the two Asian third-place teams from their qualification groups.
New Zealand and the Solomon Islands are playing on Wednesday evening to determine the team that will face the fourth-best North American team in June - most likely Costa Rica.
Best and worst-case scenarios
Best: England, USA, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia
