(Getty)
The draw for the 2018 World Cup took place in Saint Petersburg, Russia on Saturday night. A record 208 nations from six confederations will vie for 31 available places for the finals in Russia, and most found their fate.
Here is a breakdown of qualifiers per confederations:
UEFA: 13
CONCACAF: 3.5*
CONMEBOL: 4.5*
OFC: 0.5*
AFCON: 5
AFC: 4.5*
*Countries of highlighted confederations will play off against one another for the final places.
In UEFA, winners of the four of the last five World Cups, things got interesting as giants France and the Netherlands were drawn together, as did Italy and Spain. Defending champion and World Cup favorite Germany should have another easy path to top spot with the Czech Republic and Norway looking to fight for second spot.
Euro 2016 will take place next June in France, which will be followed by a flurry of World Cup qualifiers.
As hosts of the tournament, Russia is the first nation from UEFA to qualify for the World Cup. Nine group winners qualify, plus eight runners-up only records vs. teams 1-5 count) will play off for the four remaining places. Below are the groups for the 2018 World Cup and the teams’ odds to claim top spot. Odds are courtesy of Sky Bet and Paddy Power.
Group A
Netherlands: 5/4
France: 10/11
Sweden: 7/1
Bulgaria: 25/1
Belarus: 100/1
Luxembourg: 500/1
Group B
Portugal: 8/13
Switzerland: 6/4
Hungary: 12/1
Faroe Islands: 150/1
Latvia: 66/1
Andorra: 500/1
Group C
Germany: 1/6
Czech Republic: 5/1
Northern Ireland: 50/1
Norway: 20/1
Azerbaijan: 200/1
San Marino: 1000/1
Group D
Wales: 15/8
Austria: 7/2
Serbia: 7/4
Republic of Ireland: 6/1
Moldova: 100/1
Georgia: 80/1
Group E
Romania: 11/4
Denmark: 2/1
Poland: 7/4
Montenegro: 6/1
Armenia: 33/1
Kazakhstan: 150/1
Group F
England: 4/11
Slovakia: 5/1
Scotland: 8/1
Slovenia: 16/1
Lithuania: 80/1
Malta: 250/1
Group G
Spain: 1/2
Italy: 13/8
Albania: 40/1
Israel: 40/1
FYR Macedonia: 100/1
Liechtenstein: 500/1
Group H
Belgium: 4/9
Bosnia-Hercegovina: 3/1
Greece: 11/2
Estonia: 225/1
Cyprus: 66/1
Group I
Croatia: 11/8
Iceland: 6/1
Ukraine: 5/2
Turkey: 11/4
Finland: 25/1
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