Featuring 16 teams and eight eager hands, the Final Draw for the ninth edition of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup France 2018 will take place on Thursday 8 March, International Women’s Day.
What exactly do you need to know about this key day in the women’s football calendar? FIFA.com has all the answers.
Which teams are seeded? France, as host nation, as well as Germany, Korea DPR and Japan, as the teams with the highest points total over the past five FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups.
Where and when will the Draw be held? The Draw ceremony will begin at 11.00 CET at Rennes Opera House.
Who will carry out the Draw? The Draw itself will be executed by FIFA’s Chief Women’s Football Officer, Sarai Bareman, and the Group leader for FIFA’s Women’s Tournaments, Rhiannon Martin. They will be ably assisted by four French sport personalities with links to Brittany: Camille Abily, Lyon midfielder and former France international (183 caps), Mikael Silvestre, FIFA Legend and former France international (40 caps), Damien Seguin, gold medallist in sailing at the 2004 (Athens) and 2016 (Rio) Paralympic Games, and Aela Mocaer, a 15-year-old youth player at CPB Brequigny in Rennes.
How are the pots divided up? The 16 qualified teams will be allocated to four pots of four teams, based on a ranking built according to past sporting performance. The ranking is based on the total points obtained in the last five FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cups (three points for a win, one for a draw, zero for a loss). It therefore takes into account the results from the 2016, 2014, 2012, 2010 and 2008 tournaments.
How will the Draw proceed?
The four pots representing the teams are labelled "Pots 1 to 4".
The four pots representing the venues are labelled “Groups A to D”. Each pot has four balls containing the position numbers (1, 2, 3 and 4) of each group.
The Draw begins with Pot 1 and finishes with Pot 4. Each pot must be completely emptied before moving on to the next pot.
A ball is drawn from a team pot, and then from a group pot, thus determining the position in which the respective team will play.
With the exception of UEFA, which has more qualified countries (five) than there are groups (four), teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn in the same pool.
Where can fans follow the Draw? The ceremony will be broadcast live on FIFA.com, FIFATV on YouTube and the FIFA Women's World Cup Facebook page. Regular updates will also be posted on FIFA’s Twitter account.