Soccer

Here's what you need to know about the teams that qualified for the 2018 Fifa World Cup

19 November 2017 - 00:00 By bbc.com

The 2018 Fifa World Cup qualifying has ended and we now know all the 32 teams who will compete at the finals in Russia.
Who has qualified?: From Europe, hosts Russia and group winners Belgium, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Poland, Portugal, Serbia and Spain are joined by play-off victors Croatia, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland.
Africa's representatives are Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia. From North and Central America and the Caribbean (Concacaf), it is Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama.
South America is represented by Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Uruguay. And the Asian qualifiers are Australia, Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia and South Korea.
When is the draw and how does it work?: The World Cup finals draw is on December 1 at Moscow's State Kremlin Palace concert hall at 5pm.
Teams will be seeded based on the October 2017 Fifa world rankings. There are four pots - each containing eight teams. Russia will be joined in pot one by the seven highest-ranked teams, with the next eight in pot two, the following eight in pot three and the lowest ranked eight in pot four.No teams from the same confederation, with the exception of Uefa, will be drawn in one group. A maximum of two European nations can be in any group.
Who are the favourites to win the tournament?: Defending champions Germany are the bookmakers' favourites, followed by Brazil, Spain, Argentina, France, Belgium and then England.
Who impressed the most in qualifying?: Germany - They have not lost a World Cup finals or qualifying match since the 2010 semifinal against Spain. The Germans came through 2018 qualifying with 10 wins from 10 - scoring 43 times and only conceding on four occasions.
Belgium, Spain and England all came through European qualifying unbeaten too.
Brazil cruised through South American qualifying - but only after replacing manager Dunga with Tite midway through the campaign. They had only won one of their opening six qualifiers, but under Tite they won 10 and drew two of their final 12 matches to finish 10 points clear.
In Asia, Iran came through two different groups unbeaten - 18 matches without defeat that included a run of 12 consecutive clean sheets.
Morocco qualified without conceding a goal in their six-game African group, finishing top ahead of Ivory Coast.
Who will be making their Fifa World Cup debuts?: Panama - Panama president Juan Carlos Varela declared a national holiday following their victory.
Iceland are the only country with a population of less than a million to have ever reached a World Cup. The Nordic nation had never qualified for a major tournament before Euro 2016, when they beat England on their way to the quarterfinals.
Who are the biggest nations to miss out?: The US suffered a shock 2-1 defeat by Trinidad and Tobago to eliminate them. It is the first time since 1986 that they will not compete at a World Cup. They finished below Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and Honduras.
The biggest shock of the qualifying campaign came from Europe. Four-time winners Italy missed out on a World Cup for the first time since 1958, losing to Sweden in their play-off.
The Swedes had reached the play-off on goal difference in their group ahead of the Netherlands, meaning the Dutch have failed to qualify for the past two major tournaments.
The Czech Republic, Wales, Scotland, Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey were among the other countries to miss out in the group stages - with the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Greece losing in the play-offs.
The Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Ghana - all of whom were in Brazil in 2014 - were among the big African nations to miss out.
Chile, ranked ninth in the world, went out in South American qualifying, missing out on a play-off on goal difference to 10th-ranked Peru...

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