Wales have been drawn in Path A so if they make it to the final, they could have to beat Italy to qualify!

Of course, the draw is not being done in a straightforward 'team A plays team B' manner.

We've had all the pot one teams drawn.

Italy in Path A, Ukraine in B, Turkey in C and Denmark in D. Now for the pot two sides.

Stand by, everyone. It's happening!

After a brief montage...

Sophie Brown
BBC Sport

Italy are the top-ranked team in the play-off draw and will be desperate to avoid missing out on a third successive World Cup.

But in their play-off semi-final, the Azzurri could well face one of the teams who have knocked them out of the play-offs in the two previous qualifying campaigns.

The four-time winners lost 1-0 to Sweden over a two-legged contest for a place at the 2018 World Cup, and were stunned 1-0 at home by North Macedonia in a play-off semi-final ahead of the 2022 showpiece in Qatar.

Since their debut at the tournament in 1934, the only other time Italy have missed a World Cup was in 1958, when they were pipped to the qualifying spot in their final group game by Northern Ireland, another team they could face in the 2026 play-offs.

Alongside Sweden, North Macedonia and Northern Ireland, Italy could also face Romania in the play-off semi-finals.

Image source, Getty Images

They definitely appear to have been the biggest takeaway from Mr Infantino's couple of speeches based on the messages we're getting, Callum.

For now, we're almost ready for the draw itself as Italy's World Cup winning defender Marco Materazzi is brought out to help conduct it.

The Fifa president refers to next year's tournament as the "greatest World Cup ever".

Bold claim before a ball has been kicked.

Anyway, he's finished for now. Will he be back? Who knows?

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Well, he's back again, Mike. Sadly not dressed as a vicar.

Quite why we need two little speeches from Gianni Infantino - one before each draw - I don't know but we're here now...

Wales

Image source, Getty Images

Wales' focus lies on today's imminent World Cup play-off draw as they wait to discover their semi-final and potential final opponents.

Having finished second in their qualifying group courtesy of an emphatic 7-1 triumph over North Macedonia - their biggest win since 1978 - Craig Bellamy's side will play the last-four encounter on home soil.

They will face either Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo or Republic of Ireland in that fixture on 26 March.

Former Wales striker Rob Earnshaw believes the Dragons will relish a tie against any opponent on the back of their most recent result at Cardiff City Stadium.

"I know Craig Bellamy, I played with him and his mentality is 'give us whoever, it doesn't matter'," Earnshaw told BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast.

"A lot of people were saying last night, 'do we really want Republic of Ireland as it's that derby feel?'. I think a lot of people didn't. But for me, that would be incredible.

"So it's one of those, yes, we'll take Kosovo or Bosnia and Albania are not bad and the Republic of Ireland, of course, they're a very good team so they'll be difficult.

"But you just feel that we'll take anybody right now and it doesn't matter, and a lot of that is down to Craig Bellamy."

OK, that's the inter-confederation draw completed. All relatively quick and painless.

Next up will be the Uefa play-off draw featuring Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland.

But first... another montage. We'll get there eventually, people.

Image source, Getty Images

Bolivia v Suriname

The winners will play Iraq in the final.

Image source, Getty Images

New Caledonia v Jamaica

The winners will play DR Congo in the final.

Image source, Getty Images

These are the play-offs in March which set out the final two places and don't involve any countries from Europe. The draw also takes place on Thursday at the same time.

Six nations will take part, in two paths with a semi-final and a final.

However, world ranking is even more important as the two countries with the best ranking go direct to the final.

Asia: Iraq

Africa: DR Congo

Concacaf: Jamaica, Suriname

Conmebol: Bolivia

OFC: New Caledonia

For the draw, the highest-ranked country (DR Congo) will automatically be in final one, and the second-highest (Iraq) in final two. There will then be an open draw of the four remaining teams into each semi-final position.

The only constraint is that there must be one Concacaf team in each path.

First up it's the inter-confederation draw...

Mercifully short from Fifa president Gianni Infantino and now we've got France World Cup winner Christian Karembeu.

He'll help with the draw this afternoon - and it looks like it might not be too far... oh never mind, here's an explainer video.

We've explained how this all works for you here.

Image source, Getty Images

Here come the big wigs. Fifa president Gianni Infantino is out to give us a bit of spiel about the World Cup before the draw starts.

Settle in, folks.

Here we go. The draw is getting under way.

Well, the pre-amble had started anyway. Hopefully it won't be too long before the draw itself begins.

Remember you can watch live on BBC iPlayer, the Red Button and at the top of this very page.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Italy are one of the most successful teams in World Cup history, lifting the trophy on four occasions.

But since their most recent win in 2006, they have not made it beyond the group stage. In fact, they didn't make it to the finals at all in 2018 or 2022.

The play-offs await this time as they try to avoid having to watch a third straight World Cup from home.

Denmark are another of the pot one sides and are aiming to qualify for a third World Cup in a row for the first time in their history.

They'll feel they should already have it secured after blowing a lead at home to Belarus, eventually drawing 2-2, when a win would have booked their place.

Instead, Scotland were given a chance and took in the most dramatic circumstances to leave the Danes full of regret and in the play-offs.

Both are potential opponents for Northern Ireland, along with Turkey and Ukraine.

One of the toughest draws for Wales could be Albania. They conceded just five goals in qualifying and four of those came across two games against England.

Of course, there is also the possibility of Wales and Republic of Ireland being drawn to face one another in Cardiff. Bosnia and Kosovo are the other teams Craig Bellamy's men could come up against.

Wales aside, Republic of Ireland's potential opponents are Poland and Robert Lewandowski, Czech Republic and Slovakia.