ST. PETERSBURG: Qualifying draw on Saturday for the 2018 World Cup, to be played in Russia from June 14-July 15:

EUROPE

13 nations qualify, Russia also qualifies as host

Sept. 4, 2016, to Oct. 10, 2017

Group winners qualify

Top eight second-place teams advance to playoffs

Group A- Belarus, Bulgaria, France, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Sweden

Group B- Andorra, Faeroe Islands, Hungary, Latvia, Portugal, Switzerland

Group C- Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Germany, Northern Ireland, Norway, San Marino

Group D- Austria, Georgia, Ireland, Moldova, Serbia, Wales

Group E- Armenia, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Romania

Group F- England, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia

Group G- Albania, Israel, Italy, Liechtenstein, Macedonia, Spain

Group H- Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece

Group I- Croatia, Finland, Iceland, Turkey, Ukraine

Playoffs

Nov. 9-14, 2017

Winners qualify

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SOUTH AMERICA

4 or 5 nations qualify

Sept. 4, 2016, to Oct. 10, 2017

One group of 10 nations

Double round robin

Top four teams qualify

Fifth-place team advances to playoff vs. Oceania

Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela

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NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA

AND CARIBBEAN

3 or 4 nations qualify

Third round

Aug. 31 to Sept. 8, 2015

Winners advance

Antigua and Barbuda vs. Guatemala

Canada vs. Belize

Curacao vs. El Salvador

Grenada vs. Haiti

Jamaica vs. Nicaragua

St. Vincent and the Grenadines vs. Aruba

Fourth round

Nov. 7, 2015, to Sept. 6, 2016

Double round robin

Top two teams in each group advance

Group A_Canada-Belize winner, Curacao-El Salvador winner, Honduras, Mexico

Group B_Costa Rica, Grenada-Haiti winner, Jamaica-Nicaragua winner, Panama

Group C_Antigua and Barbuda-Guatemala winner, St. Vincent and the Grenadines-Aruba winner, Trinidad and Tobago, United States

Fifth round (Hexagonal)

Nov. 7, 2016, to Oct. 10, 2017

Double round robin

Top three teams qualify

Fourth-place team advances to playoff vs. Asia

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ASIA

4 or 5 nations qualify

Second round

June 11, 2015, to March 29, 2016

Double round robin (drawn April 14)

Group winners and top four second-place teams advance

Group A_East Timor, Malaysia, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates

Group B_Australia, Bangladesh, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

Group C_Bhutan, China, Hong Kong, Maldives, Qatar

Group D_Guam, India, Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan

Group E_Afghanistan, Cambodia, Japan, Singapore, Syria

Group F_Iraq, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam (Indonesia disqualified)

Group G_Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Myanmar, South Korea

Group H_Bahrain, North Korea, Philippines, Uzbekistan, Yemen

Third round

Aug. 29, 2016, to Sept. 5, 2017

Two groups of six

Double round robin

Top two teams in each group qualify

Third-place teams advance to playoff

Fourth round

Oct. 2-10, 2017

Winner advances to playoff vs. CONCACAF

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AFRICA

5 nations qualify

First round

Oct. 5-13, 2015

Winners advance

Central African Republic vs. Madagascar

Chad vs. Sierra Leone

Comoros vs. Lesotho

Djibouti vs. Swaziland

Eritrea vs. Botswana

Gambia vs. Namibia

Liberia vs. Guinea-Bissau

Mauritius vs. Kenya

Sao Tome e Principe vs. Ethiopia

Seychelles vs. Burundi

Somalia vs. Niger

South Sudan vs. Mauritania

Tanzania vs. Malawi

Second round

Nov. 9-17, 2015

Winners advance

Angola vs. South Africa

Benin vs. Burkina Faso

Central African Republic-Madagascar winner vs. Senegal

Chad-Sierra Leone winner vs. Egypt

Comoros-Lesotho winner vs. Ghana

Djibouti-Swaziland winner vs. NigeriaEritrea vs. Botswana winner vs. Mali

Gambia-Namibia winner vs. Guinea

Liberia-Guinea-Bissau winner vs. Ivory Coast

Libya vs. Rwanda

Mauritius-Kenya winner vs. Cape Verde Islands

Morocco vs. Equatorial Guinea

Mozambique vs. Gabon

Sao Tome e Principe-Ethiopia winner vs. Republic of Congo

Seychelles-Burundi winner vs. Congo

Somalia-Niger winner vs. Cameroon

South Sudan-Mauritania winner vs. Tunisia

Sudan vs. Zambia

Tanzania-Malawi winner vs. Algeria

Togo vs. Uganda

Third round

Oct. 3, 2016, to Nov. 14, 2017

Five groups of four

Double round robin

Group winners qualify

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OECNIA 

(0 or 1 nations qualify)

First round

Aug. 31 to Sept. 4, 2015

Round robin

Group winner advances

American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga

Second round

May 28 to June 12, 2015

Two groups of four

Top three teams in each group advance

Group A_New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Tahiti, Round One winner

Group B_Fiji, New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu

Third round

March 20 to Oct. 10, 2017

Two groups of three

Group winners meet home and away

Series winner advances to playoff vs. South America