The wait is over, qualification is complete and the 32 finalists await their fate in the 2018 World Cup.
Moscow's State Kremlin Palace is the venue for the World Cup draw and you can follow it here as it happens in a live broadcast from
3:30pm UK time (10:30am US East Coast)
from this page.
With the tournament set to kick off on June 14, 2018, there is still over six months to wait, but the preparation can begin in earnest as soon as the draw is made.

Source: goal.com

The draw is set to kick off around 18:00 local time in Moscow, which means around 15:00 GMT in the UK or 4pm here in Nigeria
Gary Lineker and Maria Komandnaya are the draw conductors and they'll be assisted by a glittering supporting cast which includes the likes of Diego Maradona, Gordon Banks and Cafu.
As we wait for the draw to kick off, we've got the seeding pots laid out below, so you can get an idea of which teams can be drawn together.
You can check out our complete breakdown of how the draw works below , but the main points to note are:
1. Teams cannot be drawn alongside other teams from the same pot.
2. With the exception of UEFA, teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn together.
3. A maximum of two UEFA teams to each group.
4. There will be a total of eight groups, each consisting of four teams.

B

Wayne Rooney scores from his own half - 29/11/2017"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgtlOCF0aiU

3 and 4

The stage

The actual room is full now, which is good since the draw starts in five minutes.

Not a good start to the #WorldCupDraw Some sound problems in the hall.

Not a good start to the #WorldCupDraw Some sound problems in the hall.

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4.12pm
Vladimir Putin has already spoken, particularly about the way that “friendship and fair play are eternal values”. There was no audible laughter.

Infantino and Putin on stage

The trophy has arrived! Miroslav Klose brought it on stage. “It’s a wonderful trophy,” he says, during a short interview of astonishing banality

It starts as a normal handshake, Putin puts his left hand around Infantino's and then Infantino doesn't seem to want to let go of their 'bro' handshake embrace. There's almost certainly nothing to read here but it's still interesting. Look at Infantino, acting like he's a real president.

Source telegraph.co.uk

First team out
Russia! What a surprise! It is of course not a surprise because it was planned they'd be first. And they're in A1! Also planned. They were in a red ball rather than a white.

Portugal are in Group B, France in Group C, Argentina Group D, Brazil in Group E, Germany in Group F! That's interesting because...
Group F is the only group to have never produced a World Cup winner.
That leaves Belgium in Group G and Poland in Group H.

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Pot 2
England's group! Who are they going to get?! First out is... Uruguay, the two time winners of the tournament, and they will go to A4, which means Russia vs Uruguay is the final game of Group A.
Spain! Spain go into Group B with Portugal! Oocha, that's a big one. And that's the first game of Group B! What a match that will be!

Pot 2 continued
Peru are in Group C with France. And in Group D, Argentina will play... Croatia!
And Diego Maradona has the next ball and has pulled out Switzerland. They go into Group E with Brazil and that will be the first game of the group.
Who's getting Germany? Is it England? Will England be in the doomed Group F with Germany?! ooooooooOOOOOOHHHHH no it's Mexico! Mexico are in Group F.

Pot 2 continued
Peru are in Group C with France. And in Group D, Argentina will play... Croatia!
And Diego Maradona has the next ball and has pulled out Switzerland. They go into Group E with Brazil and that will be the first game of the group.
Who's getting Germany? Is it England? Will England be in the doomed Group F with Germany?! ooooooooOOOOOOHHHHH no it's Mexico! Mexico are in Group F.


ENGLAND are in Group G
And will take on Belgium in the final match of the group.
That leaves Colombia to be drawn with Poland in H3.

Pot 3
CREDIT: FIFA
Egypt are in Group A, Denmark can't go into Group B because there are already two European teams there and move to Group C with Argentina and Croatia.
Iran are next and they drop into Group B with Portugal and Spain. Iceland "who have more volcanoes than professional footballers," says Lineker, are in Group D and their opening match is against Argentina. What a magical start to a World Cup that is for Gylfi Sigurdsson and friends.
Costa Rica are in Group E. That leaves Tunisia and Senegal for England.

Pot 3 continued
Sweden are in Group F. And next is Group G...
Tunisia! They play against England in a World Cup again, and that will be on 18th June, Friday night at 7pm. England's first opponents!
Senegal are in with Poland and Colombia.

Pot 4 continued
Australia have France, Peru and Denmark in Group C.
*in voice of ISS64 commentator* It's NIGERIA! Who are in Group D with Argentina. That's five games against Argentina in six World Cups for Nigeria... what an odd coincidence. Leo Messi has to take on Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria then if Argentina are to progress.
3:53pm
Pot 4
Come on. Saudi Arabia in Group A. So Russia have Egypt, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia. My word, that will be a struggle.
Serbia have to go into Group E because of the number of European teams in the other groups and that means they have to play Brazil, Switzerland and Costa Rica. That's a difficult one. Strong group.
Morocco are in Group B with Portugal, Spain and Iran and will do well to escape.

Which one is the Group of Death?
There's always one but these all look pretty well balanced. Group B is tough on Morocco and Iran, Brazil have tough games against Switzerland and Serbia... it all looks dead equal on the face of things.
England have a winnable group, you'd think Germany, France, Argentina will make it out too, but there are a lot of similarly matched countries in there.

England play Panama!
It's got a lovely big canal and England will be made to battle with it. The country, not the canal. Group G is Belgium, Panama, Tunisia and England... Southgate should be delighted with that.
Japan go into Group H with Poland, Senegal and Colombia.

Nigeria vs Argentina again I reserve my comment

Table

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