Andrew in Richhill:  Hugely important couple of hours coming up for the Home Nations' hopes of making it to the 2018 World Cup. This year's European Championship qualifiers have shown that all of England, Scotland, Wales, Nothern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are competitive enough and capable of mixing it with the best in Europe. The chances of World Cup qualification are good, a decent draw would really help matters too. 

Woeful banter as Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke starts flirting and kissing the female host.

This your first Fifa ceremony pal?

Image source, Getty Images

Zenit St Petersburg striker Hulk has been replaced as a draw assistant today by Russian Alexey Smertin "due to the Brazilian's club commitments".

Earlier this week Hulk said racism happens at "almost every game" in the Russian league.

Those two incidents are totally unrelated I'm sure.

And now the dancers are doing some freestyle football skills. What a world (cup qualifying draw).

Image source, Reuters

Oh my, it's a Russian-sounding instrumental 'Let's get the Party Started' by Pink with a lot of dancing in traditional outfits. I was not expecting that.

Image source, Getty Images

Now we've got some traditional Russian music and dancing and people dressed as weird stuff. I might just give you more details on the draw to be honest.

Image source, Reuters

Sepp Blatter gets a good round of applause as he finishes his speech and thanks Russian President Vlad Putin. 

"There is no bigger event than Fifa's World Cup. It will be a wonderful moment for the people of Russia, the rest of the world and football too.

"Hundreds of thousands of people will come to Russia for the first time in their lives. They'll be met with warmth, friendship and real Russian hospitality," Blatter continues.

Image source, EPA

This is outgoing* president Sepp Blatter's first overseas trip since Fifa was plunged into turmoil by criminal investigations into allegations of systematic bribery.

But he is "a victim", according to the man in charge of the Russia 2018 World Cup.

Alexei Sorokin told the BBC that the 79-year-old Swiss was "a very brave person".

"He has always been a friend of our country," said Sorokin.  

*by outgoing I mean he's leaving, not he loves to mingle at parties.

Oh actually he's doing some of his speech in English! 

"For the first time all 209 Fifa countries have applied to qualify," Sepp tells us. And then gives a shout-out to Bhutan who got through the first round of Asian qualifying.

Image source, Getty Images

Vladimir Putin's speech was warmly applauded. Sepp Blatter is speaking now. I'm just waiting for the translating man to start doing his job

Phil Wye
BBC Radio 5 live in St Petersburg

Konstantin Palace, St Petersburg - not too shabby. 

Vladimir Putin is speaking (in Russian obviously) and Roy Hodgson is holding a translating box up to his ear.

"The World Cup will definitely enhance the reputation of football in one of the biggest countries in the world. It's wonderful for the neighbouring countries too," he says.

"It's crucial for us to make the teams feel comfortable so they can focus on the games. We will make every attempt to guarantee security."

Fifa president Sepp Blatter and Russia President Vladimir Putin come onto the stage to a gentle smattering of applause. Very gentle.

Image source, Getty Images

A simple enough debate topic, let us know who you support and who you want your side to draw, whether you're backing England, Northern Ireland or Cape Verde.

Use #bbcfootball on Twitter, 81111 on text (UK only, please let us know your name) or on our Facebook pages. 

Here's the timeline for today. We'll let you know the format for each one and who's playing who - as well as building up to the European draw throughout our live text. It won't surprise you to know there'll also be some video montages, acts and waffle between these times.

16:20 - Continental play-off draw (deciding whether the fifth-best South American side will face Oceania champions, an Asian side or North American and so on.)

16:22 - Africa draw

16:50 - North America draw

17:05 - Oceania draw

17:13 - South America draw

17:27 - Europe draw