The snow was falling heavily in Moscow as coaches from the 32 finalists assemble in the main hall in the State Kremlin Palace where the draw ceremony began at 1500GMT.

Below are the groups for next year's World Cup finals in Russia following the draw in Moscow on Friday:

Group A

Russia, Uruguay, Egypt

Group B

Portugal, Spain, Iran

Group C

France, Peru, Denmark

Group D

Argentina, Croatia, Island

Group E

Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica

Group F

Germany, Mexico

Group G

Belgium, England

Group H

Poland, Colombia

 

Fixtures for the 2018 World Cup finals to be held in Russia from June 14 to July 15 (time GMT)

Group A

June 14

Russia v Saudi Arabia, Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow (1500)

June 15

Egypt v Uruguay, Ekaterinburg (1200)

June 19

Russia v Egypt, St Petersburg (1800)

June 20

Uruguay v Saudi Arabia, Rostov,on,Don (1500)

June 25

Uruguay v Russia, Samara (1400)

Saudi Arabia v Egypt, Volgograd (1400)

 

Group B

June 15

Morocco v Iran, St Petersburg (1500)

Portugal v Spain, Sochi (1800)

June 20

Portugal v Morocco, Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow (1200)

Iran v Spain, Kazan (1800)

June 25

Iran v Portugal, Saransk (1800)

Spain v Morocco, Kaliningrad (1800)

 

Group C

June 16

France v Australia, Kazan (1000)

Peru v Denmark, Saransk (1600)

June 21

France v Peru, Ekaterinburg (1200)

Denmark v Australia, Samara (1500)

June 26

Denmark v France, Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow (1400)

Australia v Peru, Sochi (1400)

 

Group D

June 16

Argentina v Iceland, Spartak Stadium, Moscow (1300)

Croatia v Nigeria, Kaliningrad (1900)

June 21

Argentina v Croatia, Nizhny Novgorod (1800)

June 22

Nigeria v Iceland, Volgograd (1500)

June 26

Nigeria v Argentina, St Petersburg (1800)

Iceland v Croatia, Rostov,on,Don (1800)

 

Group E

June 17

Costa Rica v Serbia, Samara (1200)

Brazil v Switzerland, Rostov,on,Don (1800)

June 22

Brazil v Costa Rica, St Petersburg (1200)

Serbia v Switzerland, Kaliningrad (1800)

June 27

Serbia v Brazil, Spartak Stadium, Moscow (1800)

Switzerland v Costa Rica, Nizhny Novgorod (1800)

 

Group F

June 17

Germany v Mexico, Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow (1500)

June 18

Sweden v South Korea, Nizhny Novgorod (1200)

June 23

Germany v Sweden, Sochi (1500)

South Korea v Mexico, Rostov,on,Don (1800)

 

June 27

South Korea v Germany, Kazan (1400)

Mexico v Sweden, Ekaterinburg (1400)

 

Group G

June 18

Belgium v Panama, Sochi (1500)

Tunisia v England, Volgograd (1800)

June 23

Belgium v Tunisia, Spartak Stadium, Moscow (1200)

June 24

England v Panama, Nizhny Novgorod (1200)

June 28

England v Belgium, Kaliningrad (1800)

Panama v Tunisia, Saransk (1800)

 

Group H

June 19

Poland v Senegal, Spartak Stadium, Moscow (1200)

Colombia v Japan, Saransk (1500)

June 24

Japan v Senegal, Ekaterinburg (1500)

Poland v Colombia, Kazan (1800)

June 28

Japan v Poland, Volgograd (1400)

Senegal v Colombia, Samara (1400)

 

Round of 16

June 30

M50

Winner Group C v Runner,up Group D, Kazan (1400)

M49

Winner Group A v Runner,up Group B, Sochi (1800)

July 1

 

M51

Winner Group B v Runner,up Group A, Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow (1400)

 

M52

Winner Group D v Runner,up Group C, Nizhny Novgorod (1800)

July 2

 

M53

Winner Group E v Runner,up Group F, Samara (1400)

 

M54

Winner Group G v Runner,up Group H, Rostov,on,Don (1800)

July 3

 

M55

Winner Group F v Runner,up Group E, St Petersburg (1400)

 

M56

Winner Group H v Runner,up Group G, Spartak Stadium, Moscow (1800)

 

Quarter finals

July 6

M57

Winner M49 v Winner M50, Nizhny Novgorod (1400)

M58

Winner M53 v Winner M54, Kazan (1800)

July 7

M60

Winner M55 v Winner M56, Samara (1400)

M 59

Winner M51 v Winner M52, Sochi (1800)

 

Semifinals

July 10

M61

Winner M57 v Winner M58, St Petersburg (1800)

July 11

 

M62

Winner M59 v Winner M60, Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow (1800)

 

Third place playoff

July 14

M63

Loser M61 v Loser M62, St Petersburg (1400)

 

Final

15 July 2018

M64, Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow (1500)

 

Media representatives are being held outside though some have been diverted to a meeting Vladimir Putin is hosting with some of the draw assistants - former greats of the game including Pele, Diego Maradona, Ronaldo and England’s 1966 World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gordon Banks who said this week that he had had to ‘deny’ reports of his death, reports the Reuters.

Pele, now 77, has been taken into the auditorium in a wheelchair.

Russia, the lowest ranked team of the finalists at 65 in the FIFA rankings, have been allocated place ‘A1’ in the draw and then the balls for the rest of the hopefuls will be drawn by the assistants.

Iceland, who stunned England in the 2016 European championships, and Panama, who made it via an 88th-minute winner in their final qualifier, are appearing at the World Cup for the first time.

The draw ceremony for the 2018 World Cup has begun at 1500GMT (1800 local time) at the Kremlin in Moscow. The actual drawing of the balls is expected to start around 30 minutes later and is scheduled to last around half an hour.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko, who also serves as the head of the Russian Football Union and the chairman of the tournament’s local organising committee, have already held a news conference ahead of the draw when questions about Russian doping dominated.

Infantino declined to get involved, saying: ‘FIFA doesn’t participate in any speculations about any situation,’ referring to allegations of state-sponsored doping in Russia that could see the country banned from the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February.

Mutko vehemently denied the existence of state-backed doping in Russia and said the country was being unfairly targeted by international sports authorities.

‘I am ready to go to any court, to any disciplinary body and say that there was never, isn’t and never will be any doping cover up programme,’ he said.

Mutko also denied that Norwegian TV station TV2 had been banned from the draw because of anti-Russian output, saying it had merely been a ‘technical problem’ and that their accreditation had been restored.

The draw ceremony will be led by former England striker and 1986 World Cup Golden Boot winner Gary Lineker and Russian sports journalist Maria Komandnaya and is a far simpler format than in previous tournaments.

The 32 teams have been equally divided into four pots based on FIFA world rankings with the exception of Russia, who as hosts are placed in the top seeds’ pot.

Each pot will be emptied one by one into eight groups — Group A to Group H — which will contain four teams each.

Two teams from the same confederation cannot be in the same group, other than Europe, which has 14 teams, and cannot have more than two teams in the same group.

The first match of the tournament will take place in Moscow on June 14, featuring Russia, with the final also in Moscow on July 15.

Pot 1: Russia (hosts), Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland, France

Pot 2: Spain, Peru, Switzerland, England, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Croatia

Pot 3: Denmark, Iceland, Costa Rica, Sweden, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Iran

Pot 4: Serbia, Nigeria, Australia, Japan, Morocco, Panama, South Korea, Saudi Arabia