England and Wales will be among the top seeds for Saturday's 2018 World Cup qualifying draw but they could still both face group opponents that would pose a serious threat to their hopes of making it to Russia.

The seeding system for the European qualifying competition will use FIFA's current rankings which means although England and Wales will avoid each other and seven other top teams, there is the possibility of facing Italy or France.

Only the group winners will qualify automatically, meaning the need for a good draw could prove to be crucial - England or Wales could find themselves in a group with Italy, Sweden, Turkey, Macedonia and Georgia.

England boss Roy Hodgson is attending the draw but it is unlikely to be known until after the Euro 2016 finals whether his contract will be extended for the 2018 qualifying campaign.

The same applies to Wales manager Chris Coleman, but Football Association of Wales chief executive Jonathan Ford said: "It's fantastic to be ranked in the top 10, and to be among the top seeds, but we are aware that the ranking is based on recent form.

"Of course we hope that good form continues but in no way will we be complacent. Wales may be among the top seeds for the draw but you still have to beat all the teams you are drawn against whatever you are seeded.

"We hope very much that we will qualify for Euro 2016 and after that qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1958."

Scotland, ranked 29th in the world, and 37th-ranked Northern Ireland will be in the pot of third seeds for the draw. The Republic of Ireland, ranked 52 in the world, will be in the pot of fourth seeds.

The 52 European countries will be split into seven groups of six teams and two groups of five teams. The winners of each group will qualify, while the eight best group runners-up will take part in a play-off in November 2017.

FIFA has agreed to a request from UEFA that England, along with France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Holland, will each be in a six-team group in order to maximise television income.

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke said: "The preliminary draw regulations are discussed with the confederations and the main request from UEFA was to protect these teams so they end up in groups of six - there's nothing wrong with that."

Meanwhile, Brazil striker Hulk - who earlier this week said he encountered racism in almost every match he played in Russia - has pulled out of taking part in the draw.

FIFA and World Cup organisers said Hulk has been replaced due to the wishes of his manager at Zenit St Petersburg, Andre Villas Boas, with former Chelsea and Russia midfielder Alexei Smertin taking his place. Zenit are playing an away match against FC Ural, a three-hour flight from St Petersburg, on Sunday.

Russia's sports minster Vitaly Mutko said: "For me it was a surprise, it has been agreed to.

"Villas Boas is a very meticulous coach, I understand his principles - he believes that the players should be together: to fly to the match, go to the hotel, go out on the field together.

"We would have arranged for a plane for Hulk after the draw, he would have just stayed for an hour. Hulk would go down in history, but Villas Boas does not want it. He probably wants to win the Champions League and to make history in another way."

ends