Atlanta and Mercedes-Benz Stadium could host a World Cup semifinal featuring Spain playing England, or defending champion Argentina playing France, according to bracketing announced by FIFA on Tuesday.
Spain, Argentina, France and England, the top four teams in FIFA’s rankings, will be placed in different quarters of the tournament bracket when the draw is held on Dec. 5 in Washington, D.C. Doing so ensures that they can’t face each other until the semifinals.
The tournament schedule, when cities will find out which teams will play in specific stadiums, will be announced Dec. 6. In addition to the semifinal, Atlanta will host several other matches in the tournament. The matches are scheduled to be played June 15, 18, 21, 24 and 27 in the group stage, along with a knockout round match on July 1, a Round of 16 match on July 7, and a semifinal on July 15.
FIFA set the pots for the draw as follows:
Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
Pot 4: Jordan, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand and the winners from European play-off A, B, C and D and FIFA Play-Off Tournament 1 and 2
Each of the 12, four-team groups will feature one team from each pot.
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