In St. Petersburg hosted the draw for FIFA World Cup 2018 – Interfax

Moscow. July 25th. INTERFAX.RU – During the ceremony, the preliminary draw World Cup 2018 at the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg hosted the draw for FIFA World Cup 2018.

The Russian national team, as the host of the tournament automatically receives a place in the finals of the tournament. Instead, the Russians will play qualifying matches friendlies with teams of Group H.

The draw was attended by many famous players, including Ronaldo, Oliver Bierhoff, Alexander Kerzhakov, Diego Forlan, Fabio Cannavaro and others.

Qualifying tournament in the UEFA zone

In the qualifying draw of the tournament in the euro zone was attended by 52 national federations, the only exception was Russia – on a mistress. On the basis of the July FIFA rankings has formed 7 groups of 6 teams and 2 groups of 5 teams (one of them out of the competition were the Russian team). Contestants will play two games – home and away – from September 4, 2016 on October 10, 2017. On the proposal of the UEFA national teams of England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands were in a group of 6 teams. In one of two groups of 5 teams out of the competition has been added to Russia. 9 group winners will go to the 2018 World Cup directly. 8 best teams among the teams of runners-up will play the play-offs in November 2017.

Group A. Holland, France, Sweden, Bulgaria, Belarus, Luxembourg.

The group B. Portugal, Switzerland, Hungary, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Andorra.

Group C. Germany, Czech Republic, Northern Ireland, Norway, Azerbaijan, San Marino.

Group D. Wales, Austria, Serbia, Ireland, Moldova, Georgia.

Group E. Romania, Denmark, Poland, Montenegro, Armenia, Kazakhstan.

Group F. England, Slovakia, Scotland, Slovenia, Lithuania, Malta.

Group G. Spain, Italy, Albania, Israel, Macedonia, Liechtenstein.

of H. Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Estonia, Cyprus . Outside the competition – RUSSIA.

Group I. Croatia, Iceland, Ukraine, Turkey, Finland.

Alexander Kerzhakov

Photo: Reuters

The first and second rounds of the qualifying tournament in Africa

pair are determined first and second rounds of qualifying in Africa.

Couples first round as follows: Somalia – Niger (the winner in the second round will play Cameroon), South Sudan – Mauritania (the opponent in the second round – Tunisia), Gambia – Namibia (the opponent in the second round – Guinea), Sao Tome and Principe – Ethiopia (the opponent in the second round – the Congo), Chad – Sierra Leone ( opponent in the second round – Egypt), Comoros – Lesotho (opponent in the second round – Ghana), Djibouti – Swaziland (opponent in the second round – Nigeria), Eritrea – Botswana (opponent in the second round – Mali), Seychelles – Burundi (opponent in the second round – DR Congo), Liberia – Guinea-Bissau (an opponent in the second round – Côte d’Ivoire), Central African Republic – Madagascar (the opponent in the second round – Senegal), Mauritius – Kenya (the opponent in the second round – Cape Verde), Tanzania – Malawi (opponent in the second round – Algeria), Sudan – Zambia, Libya – Rwanda, Morocco – Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique – Gabon, Benin – Burkina Faso, Togo – Uganda, Angola – South Africa.

The national team of Zimbabwe was suspended from participating in the qualifying tournament of the decision of the disciplinary committee of FIFA, so the draw was attended by 53 members of the CAF national federations of 54.

In the first round of 26 teams face off with the lowest CAF rating (as of July), which of the two baskets of 13 teams (one – teams with a higher rating, the second – low) were made a couple who, from 5 to 13 October 2015 will play each other for two matches – home and away.

The winners will take place in the second round of the regional selection, where they will wait for the remaining 27 African teams. Here rivals in pairs will also hold two games – home and away. The winners will be eligible to participate in the final qualifying round of the African zone, in which the teams will be divided into five groups (four each). Tours to the 2018 World Cup will have only their winners.

The third and fourth rounds of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament in

determined pair of the third round, and the groups of the fourth round of selection Zone North, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF).

The third round. 1. Curacao – El Salvador. 2. Canada – Belize. 3. Grenada – Haiti. 4. Jamaica – Nicaragua. 5. St. Vincent and the Grenadines – Aruba. 6. Antigua and Barbuda – Guatemala.

The fourth rand. Group A, Mexico, Honduras, the winner of pair 1, 2. The winner of a pair of Group B. Costa Rica, Panama, the winner of pair 3, winner of the pair 4. Group C. USA, Trinidad and Tobago, the winner of the pair 5, the winner of a pair of 6

10 winners vtogogo qualifying round (teams of Canada, El Salvador, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Aruba, Curacao and Nicaragua) took place in the third round, where they waited for the team Jamaica and Haiti. National divided into two baskets in accordance with the July FIFA rankings, followed by a pair of determined opponents, who from August 31 to September 8, will play each other in two matches.

The winners go into the fourth round of regional qualifying tournament, where the company his national team of Costa Rica, Mexico, United States, Honduras, Panama and Trinidad and Tobago. 12 teams are divided into 3 groups of 4 teams each – the game will be held on November 7, 2015 on September 6, 2016. The top two teams from each group will go to the 5th round.

Speech by the artists during the qualifying draw of the tournament

Photo: TASS Sergey Fadeichev

Second qualifying round. Oceania

The composition of the second round of qualifying groups selection in Oceania.

Group A – Tahiti, New Caledonia, the winner of the first round, Papua New Guinea.

Group B – New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu.

The four worst rated and athletic performance teams – teams of American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga – will take part in the first qualifying round to 5 to 13 October 2015 in Tonga.

The matches will be held in one round, the winner of the mini-tournament will be released in the second round, where he faces seven other teams from the Oceania zone. These eight teams divided into two groups, in which the game will also be held in one round – the next round group winners will go, as well as teams who took second and third place in their groups.

Six teams divided into two groups three teams in each, and at this stage opponents hold each other in two games – home and away. The group winners will face off in a two-legged duel, and the strongest will to challenge a ticket to the World Cup in the intercontinental play-offs.

Calendar qualifying tournament in South America

Also, Petersburg was determined the tournament schedule in South America. In the South American zone of 10 teams from 4 September 2015 on October 10, 2017 will play each other in two games – home and away. 4 strongest teams on the continent will fall directly to the 2018 World Cup, and the fifth in the intercontinental play-offs.

The draw for the calendar. 1. Colombia. 2. Chile. 3. 4. Argentina. 5.Braziliya. 6. Ecuador. 7. Venezuela. 8. Bolivia. 9. Peru. 10. Uruguay.

Matches the first day Colombia – Peru, Chile – Brazil, Argentina – Ecuador, Venezuela – Paraguay, Bolivia – Uruguay.