The Super Eagles of Nigeria have been placed in Pot 4 ahead of the group stage draw for the FIFA World Cup set to hold on Dec 1.
Nigeria went through the qualification unbeaten and started their preparation for the event proper with a moral boosting 4-2 win over Argentina. Countries in the same pot with Nigeria include; Serbia, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Panama, South Korea, Saudi Ararbia.
The World Cup will feature 5 African teams, 5 Asian teams, 3 North and Central American teams, 5 South American teams and 14 European teams.
It was confirmed in September, by the Organising Committee for FIFA Competitions, that all teams will be allocated to (eight-team) pots 1 to 4 based on sporting principles. The October 2017 edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be used to allocate all qualified teams to the four pots according to their ranking in descending order, after hosts Russia, who take the top seeding spot.
With those factors in mind, here are the final pots for the Final Draw:
POT 1 | POT 2 | POT 3 | POT 4 |
Russia | Spain | Denmark | Serbia |
Germany | Peru | Iceland | Nigeria |
Brazil | Switzerland | Costa Rica | Australia |
Portugal | England | Sweden | Japan |
Argentina | Colombia | Tunisia | Morocco |
Belgium | Mexico | Egypt | Panama |
Poland | Uruguay | Senegal | Korea Republic |
France | Croatia | Iran | Saudi Arabia |
It is worth remembering that the principle of drawing the teams into the groups will remain unchanged. This means that no teams from the same confederation, with the exception of UEFA, which could have up to two teams in the same group, will be drawn into the same group.