Russia 2018 Shoved Spain into Pot 2

One of the strange anomalies of the 2018 World Cup draw is how Poland have managed to get into Pot 1 despite having reached the knockout rounds of a major tournament only once in 36 years.

It turns out that positioning themselves as the sixth best side in the world in the governing body's eyes was a very deliberate maneuver by the European nation.

To reach this spot, Poland haven't played a friendly since November 2016, when they drew 1-1 with Slovenia.

The impact this has had is that - while the likes of Spain and England have been facing eachother at every available opportunity, dropping ranking points along the way - Poland have been able to rely solely on their stellar qualification record.

FIFA's system is based on how a team has performed over the last four seasons, weighting each calendar year's results into points. That means, for example, that only 20 percent of the points earned four years ago still count with 100 percent of the most recent 12 months' points accounted for.

All that one has to do to keep their points is play five games a year, which the Poles have easily managed in qualification alongside two friendlies in the last fortnight.

Why they have accepted the benefit of friendlies now, in which they drew 0-0 with Uruguay and lost 1-0 to Mexico, is because the draw Pots have been cast in iron since last month.