The Three Lions have just missed out on being seeded at next year’s tournament.
England will not be seeded when the draw for next summer’s FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil takes place in Rio in December, according to reports in the Daily Mail.
Roy Hodgson’s side qualified automatically for the tournament thanks to a 2-0 win over Poland at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night, a result that ultimately saw the home side finish at the top of Group H ahead of second-placed Ukraine.
However, the Three Lions are set to be in pot two when the draw for the competition is held at the Costa da Sauipe tropical beach resort on Dec 6, with world football’s governing body using the rankings as of Oct 17 to determine who the top seven seeded nations, plus the hosts, will be.
And that means in pot one will be the hosts Brazil, who are currently ranked down in 11th position, plus world champions Spain (first), Germany (second), Argentina (third), Colombia (fourth), Belgium (fifth) and Switzerland (seventh).
Meanwhile, the eighth and final spot is between Uruguay (sixth) and the Netherlands (in joint eighth place with Italy), with the former set to take the last berth should they overcome Jordan in a two-legged playoff next month, otherwise the Dutch will be the one remaining seed.