If we’re guessing, there is no reason to believe the United States and three other World Cup qualifiers from CONCACAF will not be in a pot with Asian teams when FIFA announces its official World Cup draw procedures.
As of tomorrow, we can stop guessing.
According to U.S. Soccer, FIFA will announce details on Tuesday of how this week’s draw will be conducted.
The technical procedures aren’t as important as revealing the makeup of the “pots,” which we might call “pools” in this country. Whatever your chosen vernacular, these are the four collections from which the 32 teams will be drawn into eight groups. Here is a good look at the draw, its perils and its history from SI.Com.
The important point here from the United States fan perspective is that the U.S. is likely to fall into the lesser regarded bunch from Asia (four teams), along with the teams from North and Central America (four teams). The total number of teams (8) and the relative strength makes it look way too logical to fiddle with.
(MORE: U.S. to meet Korea Republic, plus January camp dates revealed)
It’s important because the United States will be the powerhouse of that bunch, which will include Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Iran and Australia. While everyone else will hope not to land in a group with the United States, the United States will lament the sad fact that it will not get to face one of the weaker sides in the opening round next year in Brazil.