The luck of the draw
With all 32 teams for the World Cup in Russia being confirmed, fans will get a real taste of football's showpiece event when the draw for the group stages will be held. Moscow's State Kremlin Palace will bear witness to the festivities on December 1 at 15:00 GMT (9:00pm BST) where the teams will be divided into eight groups.
With sides being seeded based on the FIFA rankings released in October, the pots, each containing eight teams, have already taken shape. As hosts, Russia will be joined in Pot 1 by the seven highest-ranked teams -- Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland and France. These eight will effectively act as group leaders. The next highest-ranked teams will be in Pot 2, the following eight in Pot 3 and the lowest-ranked eight in Pot 4.
No teams from the same confederation can be drawn in the same group, with the only exception being UEFA. A maximum of two European teams may be in one group, which can throw up some tasty permutations such as Germany and Spain in the same group.
That also means Brazil may get the proverbial 'group of death' if they draw the reignited Spaniards, the giant-killing Swedes and first-time Asian representatives Australia. It could go the other way as well, with Brazil landing an easy group containing tournament floppers England and the relatively weak Tunisia and Serbia.
The dream for any team in Pot 2 would be to be drawn against Russia -- the weakest of the Pot 1 teams. But the luck of the draw should not be a concern, for if a team is to win the World Cup, they must be prepared to contend with the best the world has to offer.
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