Pot 1 contained the hosts Russia (who were automatically assigned to position A1) and the best seven teams, pot 2 contained the next best eight teams, and so on for pots 3 and 4.
Both Iceland and Panama qualified for the first time, with the former becoming the smallest country in terms of population to reach the World Cup.
Other teams returning after absences of at least three tournaments include: Egypt, returning to the finals after their last appearance in 1990; Morocco, who last competed in 1998; Peru, returning after 1982; and Senegal, competing for the second time after reaching the quarter-finals in 2002.
Bastian Dankert (Germany)Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)Paweł Gil (Poland)Massimiliano Irrati (Italy)Tiago Martins (Portugal)Danny Makkelie (Netherlands)Daniele Orsato (Italy)Paolo Valeri (Italy)Felix Zwayer (Germany) Shortly after the International Football Association Board's decision to incorporate video assistant referees (VARs) into the Laws of the Game, on 16 March 2018, the FIFA Council took the much-anticipated step of approving the use of VAR for the first time in a FIFA World Cup tournament.
are very close to the Europe-Asia border, to reduce travel time for the teams in the huge country.