Malta in next stage of World Cup draws

Although the opposition will be much stiffer this time, Coach Pierre Brincat is hopeful that our team will underline their recent progress with some creditable performances.

The draws will be made in Nyon, Switzerland on Tuesday 16th April at 14.00 Hrs. and will be screened live on uefa.com.

The 38 top-ranked nations of the record European entry of 46 have received a bye to this stage, where they will be joined by the four teams that emerged from the two preliminary round groups: Albania, the Faroe Islands, Malta and Montenegro. The 42 contenders will be drawn into seven groups of six sides, with every section containing one nation from each of Pots A-F, seeded according to the official coefficient rankings.

Pot A: Germany*, Sweden*, France*, England*, Norway*, Italy*, Denmark*

Pot B: Iceland*, Finland*, Russia*, Netherlands*, Spain*, Scotland, Ukraine

Pot C: Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Belgium, Republic of Ireland, Belarus

Pot D: Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Portugal, Wales, Slovakia, Northern Ireland

Pot E: Slovenia, Greece, Turkey, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Israel, Estonia

Pot F: Kazakhstan, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Albania, Faroe Islands, Montenegro

*Competing at UEFA Women's EURO 2013 from 10-28 July

Matches will be played from 20/21 September 2013 to 17 September 2014 on a home-and-away basis. The seven group winners qualify automatically for the finals.

The four runners-up with the best record against the sides placing first, third, fourth and fifth in their groups go into the play-offs for the remaining UEFA berth in Canada on 25/26 and 29/30 October and 22/23 and 26/27 November 2014. The finals, with an increased entry of 24 nations, take place from 6 June to 5 July 2015 in Edmonton, Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa and Vancouver.