As It Happened: 2018 World Cup Draw

Good afternoon and welcome to Nigerianeye's live coverage of the 2018 World Cup draw.


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 all as it happens 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.

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  here, but the main points to note are:

Teams cannot be drawn alongside other teams from the same pot.

With the exception of UEFA, teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn together.
A maximum of two UEFA teams to each group.

There will be a total of eight groups, each consisting of four teams.












Thanks for joining our live coverage of the draw!


The complete World Cup draw!

Group A Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay

Group B Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran

Group C France, Australia, Peru, Denmark

Group D Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria

Group E Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia

Group F Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea

Group G Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England

Group H Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan




- South Korea then slot into Group F:

Group F Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea

- England's group in full

Panama come out of the hat and aren’t allowed into Group F, and so:

Group G Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England

- Nigeria are next out, so Group D looks like this:

Group D Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria

- Australia are next out, completing Group C:

Group C France, Australia, Peru, Denmark

- Morocco go into Group B, and these are the completed groups so far:

Group A Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay
Group B Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran
Group E Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia

- Serbia are drawn next, and aren’t allowed into Group B, Group C or indeed Group D, so they become the final team in Brazil’s Group E.

-We now know who will compete in the opening game of the 2018 World Cup: it’s Russia v Saudi Arabia.

- How the draw looks with one pot to pop

Group A Russia, Egypt, Uruguay
Group B Portugal, Spain, Iran
Group C France, Peru, Denmark
Group D Argentina, Iceland, Croatia
Group E Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica
Group F Germany, Mexico, Sweden
Group G Belgium, Tunisia, England
Group H Poland, Senegal, Colombia

- Tunisia join England’s group, leaving Senegal to slot into Group H.

- Costa Rica go into Group E, and Sweden into Group F with Germany and Mexico.

-Iceland take position D2, so will open their campaign against Argentina.

-Iran, then, join Spain and Portugal in Group B.

-Egypt are added to Group A, and Denmark come out next. They can’t go into Group B, which already has its maximum quota of two European teams, so they go into Group C with France and Peru.

-The draw after two pots

So this is how things look so far:

Group A Russia, Uruguay
Group B Portugal, Spain
Group C France, Peru
Group D Argentina, Croatia
Group E Brazil, Switzerland
Group F Germany, Mexico
Group G Belgium, England
Group H Poland, Colombia

-It’s England v Belgium! They will henceforth be known as G4.

-England avoid Germany, as Mexico take Pot 2’s place in Group F.

-Switzerland head into Brazil’s Group E. England, Colombia and Mexico to go.

-Peru join France in Group C, and Croatia will face Argentina in Group D.

- Spain are plopped into Portugal’s Group B, forming an Iberian supergroup. They take position B2, and get a special round of applause.

- Uruguay join Russia in Group A, taking position four.

- Group E contains Brazil, Group F features Germany, and Group G includes Belgium, which leaves Poland for Group H.

 - France take first place in Group C, and Argentina slide into Group D.

 - Portugal are drawn into Group B, in position one (all the Pot 1 teams will be in position one in their respective groups).

- Russia are drawn as team A1. We knew this already, but they drew it anyway.

- They’re about to start drawing!

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