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ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) Qualifying draw 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 nations 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=
Home-and-home=
Winners qualify=
---=
SOUTH AMERICA=
(4 or 5 nations qualify)=
Sept. 4, 2016, to Oct. 10, 2017=
One group of 10 nations=
Double round robin=
Top four nations qualify=
Fifth-place nation advances to playoff vs. Oceania=
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
---=
NORTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA=
AND CARIBBEAN=
(3 or 4 nations qualify)=
Third round=
Aug. 31 to Sept. 8, 2015=
Home-and-home=
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 nations 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 nations qualify=
Fourth-place nation 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 nations 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 nations in each group qualify=
Third place nations advance to playoff=
Fourth round=
Oct. 2-10, 2017=
Home-and-home=
Winner advances to playoff vs. CONCACAF
---=
AFRICA=
(5 nations qualify)=
First round=
Oct. 5-13, 2015=
Home-and-home=
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=
Home-and-home=
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. Nigeria
Eritrea 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=
---
Oceania=
(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 nations 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 in home-and-home series=
Series winner advances to playoff vs. South America
