The Socceroos will compete in group D with hosts the USA, Paraguay and either Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo.
The four European teams will compete in an upcoming tournament against one another, with the winners qualifying for the World Cup starting in June.
Australia's opponents will be confirmed by April 1 AEDT, with the Socceroos opening their campaign in Vancouver on June 15 against that successful European outfit.
They then play the USA in Seattle on June 21 and Paraguay in San Jose on June 27, all AEDT.
Popovic isn't convinced that this delay will have an adverse effect on his side's chances at the global showpiece.
"I'm not sure about it being more difficult," Popovic told reporters in Sydney after naming a 26-man squad for upcoming friendlies against Cameroon and Curacao, the Socceroos' last two home games before leaving for the World Cup.
"We'll learn very soon in the next couple of weeks who we're playing. It'll be the same for the opponent.
"They are not actually preparing for Australia at the moment. They're just trying to qualify and I'm sure they'll do their preparation once they get through.
"We'll be the same. We don't see that as a hurdle we can't overcome. We'll have time to prepare."
As a Socceroo who played in the 2006 World Cup, the coach believes every opposition should be respected as tough.
"Whoever we play, you expect to be a very difficult opponent for the World Cup, as it should be," Popovic said.
Qualifying late for the tournament is not unfamiliar territory for Australia.
In their two most recent World Cup campaigns, the Socceroos have missed standard Asian qualification and had to play an inter-continental playoff.
In 2018, the team then coached by Ange Postecoglou beat Honduras with a 3-1 aggregate score to progress to the World Cup in Russia.
It was penalty saving heroics from Andrew Redmayne after another two-legged playoff, this time against Chile, that booked the Soccreoos' ticket to Qatar in 2022.
And of course there was another dramatic penalty shootout in 2006 when the Socceroos famously beat Uruguay to qualify for their first World Cup in 32 years.
