ENGLAND could have to beat FOUR giants to win the World Cup.
But another potential path to glory might see Thomas Tuchel’s side given a dream draw all the way to the last four.
Fifa chiefs confirmed the Wimbledon-style seeded draw for the Finals that mean England should avoid Spain or Argentina before the semi-finals and cannot meet France until the ultimate game in the MetLife Stadium outside New York on July 19.
It means England will be the effective “top seeds” in one quarter of the draw, a reward for standing in fourth place in the Fifa world rankings.
But with 12 groups, there will be three teams from pot one in each quarter of the draw.
Co-hosts Mexico, Canada and USA have already been pre-allocated groups, with Brazil, Germany, Holland, Portugal and Belgium joining the elite separated four in the top tier.
And with Fifa insisting the rest of the draw outside the specific seeding advantages will be “random”, it leaves open the prospect of a horror route for Tuchel and his men – or one that would see punters hitting the bookies to bet on the end of “60 years of hurt”.
The worst-case scenario would start with England drawing Uruguay – who are unbeaten in three World Cup meetings against the Three Lions and who eliminated them after TWO matches in Brazil in 2014.
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It would see England then facing a match-up with Erling Haaland’s Norway, who are in Pot Three alongside Scotland.
And the group could then be completed by Ghana, who include Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo and Tottenham wide-man Mohammed Kudus.
That would be tough enough, but England could be drawn in the same sector of the draw as both Brazil AND Germany.
While winning their group could mean a third-placed team in the first knock-out round, they could then face Brazil in the last 16 – again, they have never beaten the South Americans in a competitive game – and Germany in the quarter-finals.
Get through those massive tests and it would be Argentina or Spain in the semis, with one of them or France awaiting in the Big Apple, adding up to beating four previous winners to get their hands on the World Cup trophy.
However, and equally possible, the pathway could be very different.
Tuchel’s ideal draw would see England in the same quarter as Canada, and heading a group composed of Australia, South Africa and Haiti.
They could then face group runners-up – potentially Iran and then Korea – in the first two knock-out rounds, with a quarter-final meeting with Belgium or Canada.
Things would get tougher with the same last four path – assuming the top four seeds all make it to that stage.
But such a journey would allow Tuchel to rotate his players to ensure they are not exhausted by playing six full-out matches just to get to the business end – especially if England do not get to play games in one of the five roofed arenas where climate control will mean match temperatures of just 24 degrees Celsius.
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