The horrifically tough pools of the past – such as Argentina, England, Sweden and Nigeria together in 2002 – are no longer so viable now that FIFA organises its pots via ranking rather than continental confederations.

However, the draw for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar has thrown up some tasty looking pools – but which is the toughest?

The 2022 World Cup group stage draw in full

Group A: Qatar, Ecuador, Netherlands, Senegal

Group B: England, Iran, USA, Scotland/Wales/Ukraine

Group C: Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Poland

Group D: France, UAE/Australia/Peru, Denmark, Tunisia

Group E: Spain, Costa Rica/New Zealand, Germany, Japan

Group F: Belgium, Canada, Morocco, Croatia

Group G: Brazil, Serbia, Switzerland, Cameroon

Group H: Portugal, Ghana, Uruguay, South Korea

Which is the group of death?

It appears the trickiest group in Qatar is Group E, which features two former world champions from Europe and arguably Asia’s strongest contender.

Spain were world champions in 2010 while Germany were last winners in 2014, having taken the title on four occasions. However, both have suffered recent group stage exits, in 2014 and 2018 respectively.

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They must both be wary of Japan, who eased through their qualifying pool with a seven point gap over Australia, while Costa Rica and New Zealand – who must face in a play-off to decide who goes to Qatar – both have recent history of World Cup upsets.

Costa Rica came through their own group of death in 2014 – featuring England, Italy and Uruguay – on a run to the quarter-finals, while New Zealand were unbeaten in their last World Cup, drawing all three pool matches in 2010.

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