Fifa will once again keep the top four teams apart in the draw for Europe’s World Cup qualifying play-offs, despite controversy over the system four years ago.

The draw to see which four of the eight group runners-up will qualify for next summer’s finals in Brazil will take place on October 21 at Fifa’s headquarters in Zurich.

The top four teams will be seeded according to their Fifa ranking and will play against one of four lower-ranked teams — a system that was criticised by the Republic of Ireland when they were drawn against France for the 2010 World Cup play-off.

Former Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni described the seeding system as the “death of football,” while Republic goalkeeper Shay Given branded it “disgusting” and “totally unfair on the smaller nations” because the countries had already been seeded in their qualifying groups.