FIFA confirm MASSIVE change to World Cup draw with introduction of Wimbledon-style seeding

England are ranked fourth in the world and are set to be benefitted by the new World Cup draw system, alongside Spain (ranked first), holders Argentina (second) and 2018 winners France (third). The new system was trialled for the Club World Cup last summer.

The idea is that the quartet will not meet before the final-four stage of the competition, provided that each wins their respective group to lead to the expected knockout-stage seeding. Should any surprises occur in that regard, it could open up the draw in the knock-out stages.

This method of seeding players is used in tennis, in a way which has led to several heavyweight final clashes between the current top two players in the world, in Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. The two met in this year’s Wimbledon final and Sinner came out victorious.

While smaller nations will, perhaps rightly, claim that this new seeding system undermines sporting integrity by favouring the world’s most successful nations, a counter-argument would be the fact that all of the top four seeds still need to reach the semi-finals and could no doubt still face a difficult path in order to get there.

With 10 days to go until the draw on December 5, England face a nervous wait to find out who they will face in the group stage of the competition. The likes of Scotland, Norway, Croatia or Italy (if they get through the play-offs) could potentially be on the cards for the Three Lions, though only one of the above – as just two sides from UEFA can be drawn in the same group.

Match locations and kick-off times will then be announced the following day on December 6, as the tournament begins to come more clearly into view. Particularly now with this change to the draw, the pressure will be on Tuchel’s side to go all the way.

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A FIFA statement said: "While the final draw will determine which teams play each other in the group stage, the updated match schedule, including the stadium assigned to each match and the respective kick-off time, will be confirmed on Saturday, 6 December.

"The match allocation process that follows the draw aims to ensure the best possible conditions for all teams while, where possible, enabling fans all over the world to watch their teams play live across different time zones.

"To ensure competitive balance, two separate pathways to the semi-finals have been established when developing the match schedule. In order to have a balanced distribution of the teams, the four highest-ranked teams … will have the following constraints: the highest-ranked team [Spain] and the second highest-ranked team [Argentina] will be randomly drawn into opposite pathways, and the same principle will apply to the third [France] and fourth [England] highest-ranked teams.

"This will ensure that, should they win their groups, the two highest-ranked teams will not meet before the final."

With the World Cup now less than seven months away and growing ever closer, Tuchel has some important questions to answer as he seeks the winning formula to see the Three Lions crowned world champions for the first time since 1966.

The fact that England are ranked as the fourth seed for the competition despite not having won any major men’s tournament in living memory reflects the quality which Tuchel has at his disposal, and he has not been afraid to make some ruthless decisions in recent months when it comes to squad selection.

When the draw is made in less than two weeks’ time, the upcoming tournament will begin to feel more real than ever.