By Paul Jones
Wales could be drawn in a World Cup qualifying group with England next month.
The seedings for the European section of qualification for Qatar 2022 were confirmed on Friday morning, and left open the possibility of some old rivalries being renewed.
Wales have moved two places up the world rankings to 18th and are in pot two along with Switzerland, Poland, Sweden, Austria, Ukraine, Serbia, Turkey, Slovakia and Romania.
Gareth Southgate’s team are in the top pot of seeds, alongside the world’s number one-ranked team Belgium and reigning world champions France.
Northern Ireland, the Republic and Scotland are all in the third pot.
In total, 55 teams will be split into five groups of five and five groups of six when the draw takes place on December 7.
Wales first faced England all the way back in 1879, with their most recent competitive meeting coming at the finals of Euro 2016 where England won 2-1.
But it was Wales who went on the make the semi-finals, while England crashed out in the round of 16 to Iceland.
The qualifiers will be played between March and November next year.
The winners of the 10 groups will qualify automatically for the finals, which for the first time will be played in November and December of 2022 to avoid the punishing summer heat in the Middle East.
A further three places will be fought out between the 10 group runners-up and the two highest-ranked teams from the Nations League who have not already qualified or finished in a runners-up spot.
These 12 teams will be divided into three play-off paths, each featuring four countries, to determine the final three European berths.
European World Cup qualifying full pot seedings (55 nations in total)
Pot 1: Belgium, France, England, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands.
Pot 2: Switzerland, Wales, Poland, Sweden, Austria, Ukraine, Serbia, Turkey, Slovakia, Romania.
Pot 3: Russia, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Czech Republic, Norway, Northern Ireland, Iceland, Scotland, Greece, Finland.
Pot 4: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Israel, Belarus, Georgia, Luxembourg.
Pot 5: Armenia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Andorra.
Pot 6: Malta, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Gibraltar, San Marino.
