At a press conference in Brazil this morning, FIFA officials announced the pot allocations for next summer's World Cup. The draw will be held on Friday, but it's time to start imagining your groups of death, and how the U.S. is absolutely going to end up in one.


Here are the four pots. Each group will be made up of one team from each pot, with a couple of exceptions.*

POT 1: Argentina, Brazil, Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay

Argentina, Brazil, Belgium, Colombia, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay POT 2: Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, Ecuador

Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Chile, Ecuador POT 3: USA, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea,

USA, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, POT 4: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, England, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia


Pot 1 contains the top seven ranked nations, plus host Brazil. The rest are sorted geographically, to keep familiar teams from meeting up in the group stages: CAF and a pair of CONMEBOL teams in Pot 2, CONCACAF and AFC in Pot 3, and UEFA in Pot 4.

You know what to do now. Head to the World Cup Draw Simulator, already updated with today's pots, and see what the future might hold. It rarely comes out looking good for the USMNT.

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