When is the World Cup 2018 draw? Date, TV channel, stream & guide

Qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia is finished, with the draw for the tournament now just hours away.

With the field of potential teams heading to next summer's competition finalised, preparations are well underway in Moscow for the event that will determine who faces who in the group stage.

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It can be a complicated process with all of the pots, seeds and various other rules and regulations involved, but we have all the details you need to know.

WHEN IS THE WORLD CUP DRAW?

The draw for the group stage of the 2018 World Cup will take place on Friday, December 1 at the State Kremlin Palace inside the Moscow Kremlin.

Events are expected to kick off around 18:00 local time, which is 15:00 GMT in the UK, 10:00 ET in the US and 02:00 AEDT on December 2 in Australia.

The State Kremlin Palace was originally built on the orders of Nikita Khrushchev for Communist Party meetings, but since the fall of the Soviet Union it has become a concert hall.

The Kremlin as a whole is a fortified complex in Moscow that includes the residence of Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation.

A FIFA spokesperson told the Press Association : "This prestigious entertainment venue with a capacity of 6,000 spectators has hosted many international and locally renowned artists in the past, as well as traditional ballets and operas."

HOW CAN I WATCH THE WORLD CUP DRAW?

The World Cup draw will be available to watch live on television and is also likely to be streamed on FIFA.com.

In the UK, the draw will be shown live on Sky Sports and ITV and in the US, Fox have the rights in English and Telemundo in Spanish.

Who will present the World Cup draw?

Former England international Gary Lineker will conduct the draw along with Russian sports journalist Maria Komandnaya.

Gary Lineker and Maria Komandnaya to conduct #WorldCupDraw in Moscow on 1 December
More https://t.co/InlWTQRZxx pic.twitter.com/RcUovTJnWu

— #WCQ (@FIFAWorldCup) November 17, 2017

After the news was announced, Lineker said: "As a player, I was fortunate enough to take part in the World Cup finals on two occasions. It is quite special to be involved in yet another tournament — now on the stage, unveiling the results of the draw. I have been on the other side, waiting to find out my opponents, and I know how exciting this occasion is."

Lineker and Komandnaya will be joined on the stage by Russian football hero Nikita Simonyan and seven other draw assistants, who FIFA revealed to be Laurent Blanc, Gordon Banks, Cafu, Fabio Cannavaro, Diego Forlan, Diego Maradona and Carles Puyol.

HOW DOES THE WORLD CUP DRAW WORK?

All 32 finalists have been arranged into four seeding pots based on their FIFA ranking for October 2017.

Pot 1 will contain hosts Russia and the seven teams who had the highest ranking. Pot 2 will be populated by the next eight highest ranked teams with the next eight in Pot 3 and the lowest ranked eight in Pot 4. You can check out our World Cup seeding breakdown here.

Those 32 teams will be then be drawn into eight groups of four, with each group labelled from A to H.

Seeding Pots 1 to 4 will be emptied by allocating each of their eight teams to a different group.

With one exception, teams from the same confederation will not be drawn together in a group. So, for example, Brazil cannot be paired with another team from South America and Nigeria cannot be paired with another team from Africa.

The only exception applies to UEFA teams, with FIFA ruling that up to two teams from the European confederation can be drawn in the same group.

If you're still not quite sure, FIFA has put together a handy explainer video that you can watch below.

WHICH TEAMS HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THE WORLD CUP?

The full list of teams that have qualified for the World Cup finals so far is below. For a full continent-by-continent breakdown, check out our comprehensive guide to the qualification spots .