Mamelodi Sundowns face a daunting prospect in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup draw on Thursday in Miami, with the potential to be drawn into a “Group of Death.”

As a Pot 4 team, Sundowns could be paired with one of the European giants such as Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, or Paris Saint-Germain. In addition, they could face strong competition from teams like Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Inter Milan, or Atlético Madrid from Pot 2.

From Pot 3, Sundowns could be drawn one of CF Monterrey, Club León, CA Boca Juniors, or Botafogo. They cannot face Al Ahly and Wydad Casablanca because they come from the same confederation (CAF).

The 32 qualified teams have been divided into four pots based on their confederation rankings. Sundowns’ previous participation in the 2016 FIFA Club World Cup, where they didn’t accumulate significant points, has placed them in Pot 4.

Manqoba Mngqithi’s side secured their spot in the tournament through CAF’s ranking pathway, unlike Al Ahly who qualified as the reigning African champions.

FIFA said in a statement on Tuesday:  

FIFA’s general principle is to ensure, whenever possible, that no group has more than one team from the same confederation drawn into it. This applies to all confederations except UEFA, which is represented by 12 teams.

Each group must have at least one but no more than two UEFA teams drawn into it. Thus, four out of the eight groups will consist of two UEFA teams. 2. Teams from the same member association cannot be drawn into the same group. 3. In the interest of ensuring competitive balance, two separate pathways of four groups each have been established.

Pathway 1 consists of the winners of groups A, C, E and G paired with the runners-up of groups B, D, F and H. Pathway 2 consists of the winners of groups B, D, F and H paired with the runners-up of groups A, C, E and G. UEFA teams 1-2 and CONMBEBOL teams 1-2 will be allocated to groups in separate pathways and will only meet in the semi-finals if they win their groups.

The same principle will also apply to UEFA teams 3-4 and CONMEBOL teams 3-4. 4. UEFA teams 1-4 will be drawn into groups that will prevent them from meeting each other before the semi-finals in the event that they all win their respective groups.

The same principle will also apply to CONMEBOL teams 1-4. 5. All teams drawn from team pot 1 will be automatically allocated to position 1 of the group they are drawn into. 6. Teams from team pot 2 will be drawn as follows: UEFA teams 5-8 will be drawn into groups with CONMEBOL teams 1-4, while UEFA teams 9-12 will be drawn into groups with UEFA teams 1-4. 7.

As the teams from the host country and for scheduling purposes, Inter Miami CF will be automatically allocated to position 4 in Group A, while Seattle Sounders FC will be automatically allocated to position 4 in Group B when they are drawn from team pot 4. 8. Consequently, teams drawn into Group A or Group B will automatically take the position corresponding to the team pot from which they are drawn.  

Therefore, the team from team pot 2 will be allocated to position 2 and the team from team pot 3 will be allocated to position 3. This will apply only to Group A and Group B. 

The draw procedure is as follows:  

The four pots containing the teams are labeled 1 to 4. In each team pot, there are eight balls, with each ball containing the name of a qualified team. 2. The draw starts by drawing all of the teams from team pot 1, in line with the draw constraints outlined above. After all of the teams from Team Pot 1 have been drawn into their respective groups, the draw will continue by drawing all of the teams from team pots 2, 3, and 4, with each team pot being emptied before moving on to the next one; a ball will first be drawn from the team pot followed by a ball from the first available group pot to determine the team’s position within the group, in accordance with the draw constraints outlined above. The drawing of a position within a group applies only to groups C to H, as per the draw constraints above. 3. The draw will conclude once all teams from team pot 4 have been drawn.