Was the draw fixed to give USA the best possible advantage?

https://x.com/JacobFeldman4/status/2070184704490258477?s=20

There are 495 different permutations of the 8 3rd placed teams. 330 of them include the Group B 3rd placed team qualifying and in 329 of those cases they play the Group D Winner (USA), according to this guy.

So, yes, FIFA has predetermined the draw for each group winner to an extent. All 3 host nations would get a 3rd placed team if they won their group and this was guaranteed because at the draw the 3 presidents of the host nations drew out their own countries and they were put into these groups, then the rest of the draw commenced.

Makes commercial sense to try and help the US team go as far as possible, for the short term and long term, they'll still have their ârses handed to them by the first half decent team that comes their way which will probably be Spain in the quarters.

Trump wants the 2038 World Cup as well and given what a huge, still largely untapped market the US is for soccerball, they'll probably give it to them.

Kind Regards.

For sure but was Group B picked deliberately because it was so weak and was Group G picked deliberately for the L32 and L16?

Have they gone that extra level in this World Cup compared to previous ones?  Had Italy qualified they'd have been in Group B.  So was this 3rd place scenario determined after Italy were knocked out?

Ordinarily you'd get a 3rd place team and a runner up would face a runner up.  But otherwise which teams in the group you faced would be down to the luck of the draw.  Was that the case case this year or have they been very lucky to get Group G and Group B?  Were the seeded nations England France Spain and Argentine off the table to begin with?  And the real reason for the seeding was not to put those group winners in different quarters, but in reality to avoid USA Canada and Mexico playing them until at least the quarter finals?

Mexico seeded to play England in the last 16 so maybe not

It really opens up for the USA if Spain don't win group H

Be Surprised if England make the Quarters , pitiful performance against Ghana ,should have lost

To answer the opening post, imo 'Probably'.

so a stitch up involving spain not winning group which is odds on not to happen despite them not beating cape verdi, from the last 16 on ,no team is running scared of the USA