Although UEFA has itself to blame based on the process it uses to determine who ends up in what group. At least every qualifying session it seems like there is at least 1 "Group of Death" (aka 3 teams ranked in the Top 15-20). I believe there have been a couple times when 2 teams ranked in the Top 10 ended up in the same group. I don't think there has ever been a qualifying session when 3 teams were ranked in the Top 10 and ended up in the same group, but I could be wrong when factoring in that the rankings change multiple times during the qualifying rounds. Also, even the pairings for the 2-leg Playoff Round is purely random draw instead of seeding the 8 second place teams based on their current world rankings. Even though people question the formula FIFA uses to determine its rankings, I would think the 6 organizational bodies would want to see their highest ranked teams qualify for the World Cup.

I have 2 issues with the current qualifying process. First, I don't think CAF should be given 5 slots. I understand FIFA wants to see football develop in Africa, but I think 5 is too much. If anything CAF should be given 3 or 4 slots or required to participate in an inter-confed playoff round to earn an extra slot. Second, the AFC and OFC should probably be combined. AFC has several members that really should be members of OFC. If FIFA is going to keep the OFC, then the 4 regions involved in the inter-confed playoff round should be AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, and OFC (aka the 4 weakest confederations). Seed those 4 teams based on the most current rankings instead of going with pre-determined pairings to determine who get the final 2 spots.

I believe the World Cup will be expanding to 48 teams in 2022 or 2026, so it will be interesting to see how FIFA divides up the 46 or 47 spots (depending on if there is 1 or 2 host nations).