User:Qed237/sandbox2

AFC

 * First round: A total of 12 teams (teams ranked 35–46) will play home-and-away over two legs. The six winners will advance to the second round.
 * Second round: A total of 40 teams (teams ranked 1–34 and six first round winners) will be divided into eight groups of five teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The eight group winners and the four best group runners-up will advance to the third round of FIFA World Cup qualification as well as qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals.
 * Third round: The 12 teams (an increase from 10 for 2014) which advance from the second round will be divided into two groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the two third-placed teams will advance to the fourth round.
 * Fourth round: The two third-placed teams of each group from the third round will play home-and-away over two legs. The winner will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Current stage (third round)
The third round will consist of two groups of six teams. The first two teams in each group will proceed to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The two group third-placed teams will proceed to the fourth round.

The draw for the third round will be held on 12 April.


 * Group A


 * Group B

Next stage (fourth round)
The two third-placed teams in each group from the third round will play against each other home-and-away over two legs to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

The draw for the fourth round (to decide the order of legs) will be held after the third round is completed.

Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows.

The inter-confederation play-offs are scheduled to be played between 6–14 November 2017.

CAF

 * First round: A total of 26 teams (teams ranked 28–53) will play home-and-away over two legs. The 13 winners will advance to the second round.
 * Second round: A total of 40 teams (teams ranked 1–27 and 13 first round winners) will play home-and-away over two legs. The 20 winners will advance to the third round.
 * Third round: The 20 teams which advance from the second round will be divided into five groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The winners of each group will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Current stage (third round)
The draw for the third round will be held on 24 June 2016 at the CAF headquarters in Cairo, Egypt.

The seeding criteria will be announced in due course. The qualified teams are ordered based on the FIFA World Rankings of November 2015 (shown in parentheses), but it is unknown what ranking will determine the final seeding.


 * Group A


 * Group B


 * Group C


 * Group D


 * Group E

Schedule
Note: Unsourced

CONCACAF

 * First round: A total of 14 teams (teams ranked 22–35) will play home-and-away over two legs. The seven winners will advance to the second round.
 * Second round: A total of 20 teams (teams ranked 9–21 and seven first round winners) will play home-and-away over two legs. The ten winners will advance to the third round.
 * Third round: A total of 12 teams (teams ranked 7–8 and ten second round winners) will play home-and-away over two legs. The six winners will advance to the fourth round.
 * Fourth round: A total of 12 teams (teams ranked 1–6 and six third round winners) will be divided into three groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group will advance to the fifth round.
 * Fifth round: The six teams which advance from the fourth round will play home-and-away round-robin matches in one single group (often referred to as the "Hexagonal"). The top three teams will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the fourth-placed team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Current stage (fifth round)
The draw for the fifth round (to decide the fixtures) will be held after the fourth round is completed.

Schedule
The inter-confederation play-offs are scheduled to be played between 6–14 November 2017.

CONMEBOL
The qualification structure is the same as the previous five editions. The ten teams will play in a league of home-and-away round-robin matches. The top four teams will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the fifth-placed team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

Schedule
There will be a total of 18 matchdays: four in 2015, eight in 2016, and six in 2017.

The inter-confederation play-offs are scheduled to be played between 6–14 November 2017.

OFC

 * First round: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa, and Tonga will play a round-robin tournament at a single country. The winner will advance to the second round.
 * Second round (OFC Nations Cup): A total of eight teams (Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Vanuatu, and the first round winner) will play the tournament at a single country. For the group stage, they will be divided into two groups of four teams. The top three teams of each group will advance to the third round of World Cup qualifying. The top two teams of each group will also advance to the knockout stage (semi-finals and final) to decide the 2016 OFC Nations Cup winner which will play in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.
 * Third round: The six teams which advance from the second round will be divided into two groups of three teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The two group winners will meet in a two-legged match with the winner advancing to the inter-confederation play-offs in November 2017 where they will play a team from another confederation for a place in the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals.

Current stage (third round)
The draw for the third round will be held after the second round is completed.


 * Group A


 * Group B

Final
Winner advances to inter-confederation play-offs.

Note: Order of legs to be decided.

Schedule
The schedule of the competition is as follows.

The inter-confederation play-offs are scheduled to be played between 6–14 November 2017.

UEFA

 * First round (group stage): The 52 teams will be divided into nine groups (seven groups of six teams and two groups of five teams) to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The winners of each group will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the eight best runners-up will advance to the second round (play-offs).
 * Second round (play-offs): The eight best runners-up from the first round will play home-and-away over two legs. The four winners will qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Current stage (first round)

 * Group A


 * Group B


 * Group C


 * Group D


 * Group E


 * Group F


 * Group G


 * Group H


 * Group I

The eight best runners-ups determined by the following parameters in this order:
 * Ranking of runners-up
 * 1) Highest number of points
 * 2) Goal difference
 * 3) Highest number of goals scored

Next stage (second round)
The draw for the second round (play-offs) will be held in October 2017, after the first round (group stage) is completed.