Scotland in pot three for 2018 World Cup draw
SCOTLAND have been confirmed in the third pot of seeds for this month’s World Cup qualifying draw.
Gordon Strachan’s men were fourth seeds for their current European Championship campaign but have progressed after moving up to 29th in FIFA’s world rankings.
The rankings form the basis of the seeding for the European draw, which takes place on July 25.
Wales join England among the nine top seeds after moving to 10th in the world, with Croatia and Romania also there. Scotland’s potential second-seed opponents include Italy, France and Iceland.
The teams they will definitely avoid are Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Sweden, Albania, Northern Ireland, Serbia and Greece.
There will be seven groups of six teams and another two groups of five. The nine group winners qualify for Russia 2018 and the eight best runners-up play off for a further four spots.