Pot 2: Spain, Peru, Switzerland, England, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Croatia Pot 3: Denmark, Iceland, Costa Rica, Sweden, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Iran Pot 4: Serbia, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Panama, South Korea, Saudi Arabia What are the best case scenarios for the Arab teams? The Mena region is well represented at the 2018 World Cup, with Saudi Arabia claiming one of the Asian places and Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco earning three of the five African berths. For Tunisia and Egypt - both in Pot 3 - the kindest draw, on paper at least, would be Russia, Peru, and Panama. For Morocco in Pot 4 it would be Russia, Mexico, and Iran. For Saudi Arabia, also in Pot 4, it would be Russia, Mexico and Senegal. And the worst case scenarios? As it's the World Cup, only the very best teams are present, so only the very fortunate are drawn in what might be viewed as an easy group. For most, though, the groups are packed with elite teams. For Tunisia and Egypt, the toughest group would likely be Germany, Spain, and Japan. For Morocco and Saudi Arabia, a daunting group would contain Germany, Spain, and Costa Rica. That's not to mention the likes of Brazil, Argentina, France, Belgium, and Uruguay all lurking as potential opponents! Anything else to know? There are plenty of subplots dominating the build-up to Friday's draw. The National's football correspondent Ian Hawkey has a breakdown of all the big talking points.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The National","url":"https://www.thenationalnews.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.thenationalnews.com/pf/resources/images/logo_rectangle.png?d=279"}},"articleSection":"Football","keywords":["Australia","the 2018 World Cup","Ian Hawkey","France","Panama","Carles Puyol","Japan","Cafu Cannavaro","Germany","Denmark","Argentina","the 2018 Fifa World Cup","Croatia","Europe","Sweden","Nigeria","Switzerland","FIFA","Morocco","United Kingdom","Brazil","Laurent Blanc","Gary Lineker","South Korea","Football","Poland","Peru","Senegal","Colombia","Russia","Portugal","Diego Maradona","Tunisia","Nikita Simonyan","Fabio Cannavaro","Maria Komandnaya","Diego Forlan","World Cup","Saudi Arabia","football","Uruguay","Moscow","Spain","the World Cup","The National","Iceland","Costa Rica","Serbia","Iran","Egypt","Belgium","morocco","Mexico","United Arab Emirates","Sport","Article"],"description":"The 32-team tournament in Russia takes place next summer and it's time to find out the group stages.","thumbnailUrl":"https://thenational-the-national-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com/resizer/U460YMLx1rN_GRUzlru5qPsRNhM=/400x267/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/thenational/7IYNWFROABYNRHRCSDEU73YOSE.jpg","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2018-world-cup-draw-all-you-need-to-know-and-how-to-watch-it-live-in-the-uae-1.680483"}}