SCOTLAND will go into the extended World Cup Finals draw in Washington this evening after winning through to the soccer extravaganza for the first time since France in 1998.
Steve Clarke’s men sealed a place in the competition in USA, Canada and Mexico in the summer after overcoming Denmark 4-2 in a thrilling encounter at Hampden last month.
Celtic pair Kieran Tierney and Anthony Ralston have been part of the Scots squad who helped with the breakthrough.
Now we await the ballot and here is how is how it will work, what to expect and a few key things to look out for.
When will draw start and how long will it take?
The ceremony gets underway in Washington at 5pm – noon local time – and the Americans will add the expected razzmatazz to the event with supermodel Heidi Klum among the celebrities co-hosting the ballot.
Before the draw, there will be live music performances from Andrea Bocelli, Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger, while US President Donald Trump and FIFA supremo Gianni Infantino expected to make speeches.
Then it is on to video clips of the participating countries, introductions and the draw itself.
Former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand will conduct the ballot and will be joined by broadcaster Samantha Johnson and a host of other sporting greats.
How have FIFA seeded the draw?
The 48 teams have been placed into four pots of 12 based primarily on FIFA world rankings.
The exceptions are the three hosts who are automatically in pot one and the teams who will qualify through the six play-off paths, who go into pot four.
The six play-off paths are:
UEFA Play-off A: Italy, Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland
UEFA Play-off B: Ukraine, Poland, Albania, Sweden
UEFA Play-off C: Turkey, Slovakia, Kosovo, Romania
UEFA Play-off D: Denmark, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland, North Macedonia
FIFA Play-off 1: DR Congo, Jamaica, New Caledonia
FIFA Play-off 2: Iraq, Bolivia, Suriname
How will the draw work?
The 12 groups will include one team from each of the four pots.
Fifa will start by drawing the teams from pot one.
Co-hosts Mexico (A1), Canada (B1) and the United States (D1) will have coloured balls with their flags on to denote their special status. Their group positions are pre-determined to make sure they play all their games in their own countries.
The draw will then continue with pots two, three and four in order.
What is this about the top four teams being kept apart?
FIFA’s big idea is to set up the best chance of blockbuster ties in the latter stages of the World Cup.
For the first time it is giving special seeding status to the top four in the world rankings – Spain, Argentina, France and England.
This status will only apply if the countries win their groups.
What are the draw restrictions to watch out for?
There can be no more than one team from the same confederation per group. For instance, Brazil and Uruguay (Conmebol) cannot be in the same group, nor can Panama and the United States (Concacaf).
There is an exception for UEFA because there are 16 teams and only 12 groups. That means four groups will contain two European nations.
How will teams be allocated to their groups?
Once a team has been drawn they will go into the first available group, adhering to the draw constraints, in alphabetical order.
The draw computer will ensure Spain, Argentina, France and England are placed in groups in the correct quadrant of the bracket.
To speed up the process countries will not be drawn into their specific group positions to set the order of the fixtures.
Seeded countries will all go into position one, with a pre-determined grid for all the other pots, as shown in the image below.
For instance, let’s take Scotland in pot three. Their fixture order will be determined by the yellow box.
If they are drawn first from pot three they will go into Group A with Mexico.
The grid shows the team from pot three will go into position two.
The first match is A1 v A2, so Mexico would play Scotland in the opening game of the World Cup.
When does the event kick off?
The opening games are scheduled for Thursday June 11.
When is the World Cup Final?
The showpiece occasion is due on Sunday July 19.
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