FIFA World Cup Draw: spotlight on South America
With two sides ranked inside the world's top 5, South America will have a powerful presence at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.
Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Colombia and Uruguay all loom as dangerous opponents at next year's tournament, with all five in the world's top 20 in the FIFA Rankings.
Looking ahead to Saturday's (AEDT) World Cup draw, each of the South American sides are located in Pots 1 and 2, with Australia in Pot 4.
With all five to be separated across the eight pools, there’s a good chance Australia will meet one of them in group play.
Here's a look at each of the South American sides...
ARGENTINA
World ranking: 4
Pot number: One
Number of previous tournaments: 16
Best finish: Winners in 1978 and 1986
How they qualified for Russia: Third in South American qualifying group with seven wins, seven draws and four losses, scoring 19 goals and conceding 16.
Did you know? No team has contested more World Cup penalty shoot-outs than Argentina’s five, four of which they have won.
BRAZIL
World ranking: 2
Pot number: One
Number of previous tournaments: 20
Best finish: Winners in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002
How they qualified for Russia: Runaway winners of the South American qualifying group with 12 wins, five draws and one defeat, scoring 41 goals and conceding 11.
Did you know? Brazil is the only nation to have played at every World Cup and their 70 World Cup wins is a record. They were the first side apart from hosts Russia to qualify for the 2018 edition.
COLOMBIA
World ranking: 13
Pot number: Two
Number of previous tournaments: 5
Best finish: Quarter-finals in 2014
How they qualified for Russia: Fourth in South American qualifying group with seven wins, six draws and five losses, scoring 21 goals and conceding 19.
Did you know? Colombia have played 18 World Cup matches at five previous tournaments, only two of which have been draws.
PERU
World ranking: 10
Pot number: Two
Number of previous tournaments: 4
Best finish: Quarter-finals in 1970
How they qualified for Russia: Fifth in South American qualifying group with seven wins, five draws and six losses, scoring 27 goals and conceding 26. Beat Oceania champions New Zealand 2-0 in an intercontinental playoff.
Did you know? The man who broke the deadlock against New Zealand – Jefferson Farfan – is Peru’s all-time leading goalscorer in World Cup qualifiers with 16.
URUGUAY
World ranking: 17
Pot number: Two
Number of previous tournaments: 12
Best finish: Winners in 1930 and 1950
How they qualified for Russia: Second in South American qualifying group with nine wins, four draws and five losses, scoring 32 goals and conceding 20.
Did you know? Uruguay won ten of their first 11 World Cup finals matches, spread across the 1930 and 1950 tournaments, both of which they won. They were absent in 1934 and 1938.
