World Cup 2018 fixtures: Your favourite team in which group?
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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