The 48 teams have been placed into four pots of 12 based primarily on FIFA world rankings.

The exceptions are the three hosts – United States, Mexico and Canada – who are automatically in pot one, and the teams who will qualify through the six play-off paths, who go into pot four.

Given some of the teams involved in the four European play-off paths, they have the potential to create some strong groups.

Italy and Denmark would have been in pot two because of their world rankings had they qualified directly, while Wales would have been in pot three.