The United States became the final team in the March international window, alongside CONCACAF rivals Mexico, to qualify directly for the 2022 World Cup.
With just three spots left to fill, the World Cup draw is moving forward full steam ahead on Friday, April 1 with 29 teams and three placeholders allotted for the three berths that remain to be decided in June.
So with the group stage draw just hours away, how is the USA seeded compared to other teams? That is determined by the FIFA World Rankings issued on March 31, one day before the draw. Since the formula for determining the FIFA World Rankings is public knowledge, the final pot designations and scenarios were calculated by several outlets ahead of the official release by FIFA.
Now that FIFA has issued the March 2022 rankings, below is the confirmed breakdown of the pots for the United States, Canada and Mexico. El Tri is in Pot 2, as is the USA and Canada is in the last pot (Pot 4).
World Cup Draw Pots
The top eight teams based on the FIFA Rankings go in Pot 1, the next best eight teams in Pot 2, and so on. Pot 4 contains the three placeholders for the spots yet to be claimed.
Pot groupings follow below with each team's March 2022 FIFA World Ranking in parentheses.(*Qatar is in Pot 1 as host nation).
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Qatar (51)* | Mexico (9) | Senegal (20) | Cameroon (37) |
| Brazil (1) | Netherlands (10) | Iran (21) | Canada (38) |
| Belgium (2) | Denmark (11) | Japan (23) | Ecuador (46) |
| France (3) | Germany (12) | Morocco (24) | Saudi Arabia (49) |
| Argentina (4) | Uruguay (13) | Serbia (25) | Ghana (60) |
| England (5) | Switzerland (14) | Poland (26) | Intercont'l Playoff 1 |
| Spain (7) | USA (15) | South Korea (29) | Intercont'l Playoff 2 |
| Portugal (8) | Croatia (16) | Tunisia (35) | Euro Playoff |
MORE: Which teams are in the 2022 World Cup draw?
How does the World Cup draw work?
The FIFA World Cup draw will take place April 1 at 12 p.m. ET from Doha, Qatar.
All participating teams are placed into four pots based on relative strength according to the FIFA rankings as explained above. During the draw, one team will be selected from each of the pots to make up each of the eight groups. The idea is that all the groups are constructed to be as competitively balanced as possible with a team from Pot 1, another from Pot 2, Pot 3 and Pot 4.
No group can have two nations from the same region, except when it comes to Europe. Since there are 13 European nations involved in the draw, a maximum of two teams from Europe is permitted in each group. If a team is drawn, but cannot be accommodated in the group it's drawn to join due to geographic restrictions, it is shuffled along to the next group in sequence.
Still, every tournament invariably has new wrinkles.
For the 2022 World Cup, COVID-19 delays throughout the two-year World Cup qualifying cycle have caused a logjam in the soccer calendar with games pushed back. That resulted in qualifying delays, leading to the intercontinental playoffs to be pushed back to June 2022. In addition, the war in Ukraine saw Russia disqualified from contention, while Ukraine's playoff match was postponed until the summer as well.
As a result, for purposes of the draw, FIFA has designated placeholders for the three outstanding berths and placed them by default in Pot 4. That designation may not ultimately turn out to be an accurate reflection of the strength and ranking of the teams that will emerge in June.
Teams like Ukraine (No. 27), Wales (No. 18), or Peru (No. 22) would have earned a different pot status had the playoffs been decided before the draw. As it stands, there are sure to be one or two groups that will prove a tad more difficult depending on whether those aforementioned teams ultimately qualify. But there were few options at FIFA's disposal outside of postponing the draw.
MORE: Intercontinental playoff schedule and teams
USA pot for FIFA World Cup draw
The United States had an outside chance of finding itself in Pot 1 of the World Cup draw, but that would have required a number of results that did not come to pass.
As a result, the United States will be drawn from Pot 2 at the 2022 FIFA World Cup draw.
Ranked 15th in the FIFA World Rankings in March 2022 (down from 13th in February), the results from the March qualifying window — a draw in Mexico, a win against Panama and a loss to Costa Rica — won't impact the USA's world ranking enough to see it move up into Pot 1 or down to Pot 3.
MORE: USA qualifies for 2022 World Cup despite loss to Costa Rica
Canada and Mexico pots for World Cup draw
Mexico, which ranks 9th in the March rankings (up from 12th in February), finished second in the CONCACAF qualifying table, will also join the USA in Pot 2.
El Tri wasn't able to make the leap into Pot 1, while a precipitous drop to Pot 3 was never in the cards.
MORE: Canada falls to Panama to close out World Cup qualifying
Canada, meanwhile, will be selected from Pot 4, which is the group of lowest-ranked teams at the World Cup.
Despite Les Rouges topping the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying table and securing a berth to its first World Cup in 37 years, two losses in three March matches (to Costa Rica and Panama) saw the team drop into Pot 4 at the last second, with a chance to move into Pot 3 evaporated.
A win against Panama in the final regional qualifier would have seen it jump into Pot 3.
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