The qualification groups for the 2018 competition will be drawn on Saturday, with proceedings set to begin at 17:00 CET in St Petersburg, Russia
It's just over 12 months since Germany won the World Cup in Brazil but, on Saturday, 141 nations will learn who they will face to qualify for the 2018 tournament.
The preliminary draw will be held at the Konstantin Palace in St Petersburg, Russia, where the competition will be held in four years' time.
Nations from Africa, Europe, North America, Central America and the Caribbean, as well as Oceania and South America will all find out their opponents on the road to World Cup 2018.
The European qualifiers will see countries divided into seven groups of six teams and two groups of five, according to Fifa's July world rankings.
An all-star cast of #WorldCup #PrelimDraw Assistants will be on hand tomorrow in St Petersburg http://t.co/dlfpzd0OJ7 pic.twitter.com/IejpjzLEyU
— FIFAWorldCup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 24, 2015
The nine group winners will qualify for Russia 2018, while the eight best group-runners up will take part in a play-off in November 2017.
Saturday's draw, which begins at 17:00 CET, will see more than 2,000 guests treated to ballet, opera and Russian music before the proceedings get underway.
Iconic former Brazil striker Ronaldo will be among the assistants for the draw, along with Fabio Cannavaro, Diego Forlan, Samuel Eto'o, Madjer, Oliver Bierhoff, Alexander Kerzhakov and Rinat Dasaev.
Zenit star Hulk was replaced earlier this week at the event by former Russia captain Alexey Smertin.
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