Excitement ahead of World Cup 2022 is growing by the day. The official ball has been revealed by Adidas and qualification is almost complete, with some major upsets already behind us.
The next step, therefore, is drawing the group stage, to determine who will be playing who in the first round of the tournament when it kicks off in November. This will be the last World Cup featuring a 32-team group stage, after which the number will increased to 48, so fans of the current eight-group format will have to savour it.
But when is the draw, how does the draw work, who is in which pot and who can England face? All your burning questions are answered below...
World Cup 2022 draw: When is it and how can I watch?
The 2022 World Cup draw takes place this Friday at 5pm BST and you can tune in via the official Fifa website. Bear in mind that the "show" lasts until 8pm, so you can expect a lot of faff before the actual draw takes place and FFT reckons a fair amount afterwards too.
and England fans are already itching to find out who the Three Lions could be facing in Qatar.
Not every spot at the tournament is filled – several countries still have play-off games to complete – meaning the draw will be made with questions marks over a few of the remaining blank places.
That being said, FFT has put together a quick (and admittedly loose!) guide to who England could conceivably face when the competition begins in November and also included a best and a worst case scenario, based on FIFA rankings and fierce rivalries.
World Cup 2022 draw: How does the draw work?
The draw will see the 32 qualified* teams split into four pots: A, B, C and D. Pot A contains the hosts, Qatar, as well as the strongest teams from the continental qualifying campaigns. B contains the second strongest and so on.
Each of the eight World Cup groups will be allocated one team from each of the four pots. A maximum of two teams from the came continental qualifying campaign can be drawn together. For instance, England (Pot A), the Netherlands (B) and Wales (D) cannot all be drawn together. If two teams from Europe are in the same group, no further European sides can join them thereafter.
*Some of the final 32 teams are yet to complete their qualifying campaigns, but the TBC winners of the upcoming play-offs will still be represented in the draw. The games still to be played are as follows:
Wales vs Scotland or Ukraine
Peru vs UAE or Australia
Costa Rica vs New Zealand
World Cup 2022 draw: Which teams are in which pots?
The exact teams going to the tournament still need to be finalised (as outlined above), but here are the pots as things stand...
Pot 1: Qatar, Brazil, Belgium, France, Portugal, England, Argentina, Spain
Pot 2: Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Mexico, USA, Uruguay, Croatia
Pot 3: Japan, Iran, Serbia, Morocco, South Korea, Poland, Senegal, Tunisia
Pot 4: Cameroon, Canada, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Wales/Scotland/Ukraine, Peru/Australia/UAE, Costa Rica/New Zealand
World Cup 2022 draw: Who can England face?
With teams from the same pot unable to face one another, England avoid countries such as Belgium, France, Brazil and Argentina until the knockout rounds begin.
But with big hitters such as Germany, the Netherlands and Uruguay in Pot 2, the Three Lions could still have a very tough start to their Qatar adventure. AFCON champions Senegal, Poland and Serbia are the most dangerous possible Pot 3 opponents, on paper at least.
England's best and worst case scenarios
Best case: USA, Tunisia, UAE
Worst case: Germany, Senegal, Ecuador
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