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How will World Cup play-offs be determined?

There are four places to be won, through four play-off paths each containing four teams with one-legged semi-finals and finals.

The draw takes place at 12:00 GMT on Thursday, which will create the individual paths.

In the semi-finals, the seeded teams will be at home:

Pot 1 v Pot 4

Pot 2 v Pot 3

Each of the four paths will have one team from each pot, feeding into a final.

The home advantage in each of the finals will be determined by the draw on Thursday.

The draw starts with Pot 1 and ends with Pot 4.

The semi-finals will take place on Thursday, 26 March at 17:00 GMT or 19:45 GMT, and the finals on Tuesday, 31 March with kick-off times of 17:00 BST or 19:45 BST.

So is being in Pot 1 more favourable than Pot 2? It does not make too much difference apart from being kept away from the other Pot 1 teams in the paths.

While Pot 4 has teams who failed to make the top two of their World Cup groups, there are nations within it who will have a higher world ranking than some in Pot 3.

The other argument is the teams in Pot 3 have better recent form, so should be seen as stronger opponents.

What’s most important is being in Pot 1 or Pot 2, and guaranteeing a home semi-final.

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