What do you mean by drawing lots in the preliminary stage?

The draw by stages in the preliminaries means that teams from various countries or regions are divided into several groups (grades) in the World Cup qualifiers, which is convenient for organizing competitions. The lottery is to assign groups and positions to each team in a random way to ensure the fairness and justice of the game. Drawing lots by stages can also ensure that strong teams will not meet in the qualifiers, and at the same time increase the appreciation of the game.

Graded lottery has a great influence on the team. In the same group, the strength of each team should be similar. But if a strong team is unfortunately assigned to a weaker group, then it has a greater chance of promotion. In addition, the graded lottery will also affect the mentality of teams in various countries or regions, which is often considered to be the key factor for entering the World Cup.

Graded lottery has been used in World Cup qualifiers for many years. Since 2002, the World Cup qualifiers have been drawn by stages to ensure that the teams in each group are at the same level. But it also means that some strong teams may lose in the qualifiers, thus missing the opportunity to enter the World Cup. Generally speaking, grading lottery is a process to ensure fairness and justice, which is helpful to improve the quality and appreciation of the competition.