Which team will lift the Fifa World Cup trophy in Russia next summer?
The 32 teams who have qualified for the 2018 Fifa World Cup will find out this week who they will face in the group stages in Russia.
The main 2018 World Cup draw takes place on Friday in Moscow with former England striker Gary Lineker hosting the event alongside Russian journalist Maria Komandnaya.
According to the Daily Mail stars guests set to appear at the draw include Russian football legend Nikita Simonyan, Diego Maradona, Gordon Banks, Miroslav Klose, Laurent Blanc, Cafu, Carles Puyol, Diego Forlan and Fabio Cannavaro.
If today’s dress rehearsal is anything to go by, then England could be set for a tough challenge in the World Cup group stages. Lineker tweeted a picture showing Russia vs. England as the opening game of next summer’s finals.
We look at the which teams have qualified and how the draw will work.
First full rehearsal of the @FIFAWorldCup draw has thrown up this beauty of an opening game %uD83D%uDE33. http://pic.twitter.com/Rg6ogVDbCj
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) November 29, 2017
When is the 2018 World Cup draw?
The final draw takes place on Friday, 1 December at Moscow’s State Kremlin Palace in Russia, starting at 3pm UK time.
How can I watch the draw on TV?
The World Cup draw will be broadcast live on BBC Two and Sky Sports. Fifa.com is also expected to live stream the World Cup draw from Moscow.
Who has qualified for the 2018 World Cup?
- Europe: Russia (hosts), Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Poland, France, Spain, Switzerland, England, Croatia, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Serbia
- Africa: Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Nigeria and Morocco
- North and Central America: Mexico, Costa Rica and Panama
- South America: Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Colombia and Uruguay
- Asia: Iran, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia
Which teams are in which pots?
After Peru’s qualification, Fifa announced the pots for the World Cup draw. There are four pots of eight teams decided according to the October world rankings in descending order.
Hosts Russia are top seeds and are in pot one alongside the seven highest-ranking teams. England are in pot two.
How does the draw work?
According to the Fifa website, no teams from the same confederation - with the exception of Uefa - will be drawn into the same group. A maximum of two European teams can be drawn in the same group.
Introducing the official #WorldCup poster for %uD83C%uDDF7%uD83C%uDDFARussia 2018! http://pic.twitter.com/91OTD6SYOq
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 28, 2017
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