AFTER nearly four years of waiting, the 2018 World Cup is so nearly upon us.
But first we will have the big draw for the group stage, and it is just a day away.
Gareth Southgate will be in attendance to see who his England side will face next summer.
When is the World Cup 2018 draw?
TAKING place in Moscow, the draw will decide the group stages for the tournament which runs from June 14 to July 15, 2018.
The draw itself will be held today – FRIDAY – December 1, 2017.
The draw will take place at 3pm UK time, live from the Kremlin.
What TV channel is it on and how can I live stream it?
THE draw will be broadcast live on BBC 2 and Sky Sports News, with coverage starting from 3pm.
It will also be streamed live on Fifa’s website.
You can also hear the draw live on talkSPORT (listen here) from Russia.
Coverage will begin at 1pm and will continue until 10pm.
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A typically lavish ceremony will take place in the State Kremlin Palace, which was built in 1961 and has a capacity of 6,000.
It is typically used as a music venue and has played host to Pavarotti, James Brown, Eric Clapton, Whitney Houston, Elton John and Sting.
How does it work?
THERE will be 32 teams featuring at the 2018 World Cup, 31 of them coming through a qualifying campaign and Russia, as the hosts, qualifying automatically.
According to the FIFA rankings, the 32 teams will be split into four pots, which will be used to decide their groups.
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In the first pot will be Russia and the seven top rated teams, Pot 2 the next seven best and so on.
A team will be drawn from each pot in turn, resulting in eight groups of four teams – and our World Cup schedule.
Who is in the pots?
SOUTHGATE’S England will be in pot two alongside a host of other top nations.It means the Three Lions will avoid Spain, Switzerland, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and Croatia.
Pot 1: Russia (as hosts), Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland, France
Pot 2: Spain, Peru , Switzerland, England, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Croatia
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Pot 3: Denmark, Iceland, Costa Rica, Sweden, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Iran
Pot 4: Serbia, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Panama, South Korea, Saudi Arabia.
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