Both England and 15/2 fourth favourites Spain missed out on a top seeding when the new FIFA ranking list - used to determine the pots for the December 1 draw - was published on Monday morning.
They will instead be among the teams in pot two.
Hosts Russia, ranked 65th on the latest FIFA list, were already assured of a place among the top seeds and they will be joined by Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland and France. Poland are the biggest price among the seeded teams at 66/1, twice the price available for the hosts despite the Poles' vastly superior ranking and recent record.
Spain, ranked eighth in the world, miss out on the top pot and will be joined in the second pot by Gareth Southgate's England team, who are up three places to 12th and 20/1 to claim glory in Russia next summer.
Colombia, Mexico and Uruguay are also assured of places in the second pot, while Peru, Switzerland and Italy will join them if they win their play-off ties next month.
Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are likely to be in the third pot if they come through next month's European play-offs.
The publication of the ranking list also confirmed the seedings for Tuesday's play-off draw. As expected, both Irish sides will be in the non-seeded pot so could draw any of the seeded teams - Switzerland, Italy, Croatia and Denmark.
Sweden and Greece join the Irish nations in the non-seeds pot. The two-legged play-offs take place between November 9 and 14.
World Cup finals draw seedings
Pot one: Russia, Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland, France
Pot two: Spain, Peru*, Switzerland*, England, Colombia, Italy*, Mexico, Uruguay
Other qualifiers/potential qualfiers (in ranking order): Croatia*, Denmark*, Iceland, Costa Rica, Northern Ireland*, Sweden*, Republic of Ireland*, Tunisia*, Egypt, Senegal*, Iran, DR Congo*, Serbia, Nigeria, Australia*, Japan, Greece*, Morocco*, Panama, Burkina Faso*, Ivory Coast*, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde Islands*, Honduras*, South Africa*, New Zealand*
* Possible qualifiers
European play-off draw seedings
Seeds: Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Denmark
Non-seeds: Northern Ireland, Sweden, Republic of Ireland, Greece
Related links
