BBC Three Team

Our friends over at BBC Three have more time on their hands than most, so Sam Merton simulated the draw 100 times to see which group England pulled out more often than not.

Is it based on any science? No.

Does it mean anything? No.

But is it fun? YES.

Here is the group he found more often than any other:

Image source, Getty Images

• Brazil
• ENGLAND
• Costa Rica
• Saudi Arabia

Time shall tell...

Gary Flintoff
BBC Radio 5 live at the World Cup draw in Moscow

Image source, BBC Sport

You get the sense that Moscow is more than ready. The city is quite grey by day but is illuminated by colourful lights once the sun goes down. The Metro system takes a bit of navigating (although we are told English signs will be in place by next summer) and not many of the locals speak English.

However, those that do are more than helpful and will point you in the right direction. Whether all of Russia’s cities are ready remains to be seen, but there’s no question that Moscow intends to shine and show off to the world.

Adam SH: I think in this draw teams want to avoid England rather than the other way round. Not only because they are a good defensive team and squad, because Spain are the only better team in pot 2.

Chris Mitchell: I would England to be in with Argentina (to see if Stones, Walker, Cahill and co can cope with Messi!), Iceland (can the Hammer of Thor strike again?) and Australia (to bring the Ashes to the World Cup!)

England
World Cup winners 1966

Image source, Getty Images

England's 1966 keeper Gordon Banks is part of the delegation out in Moscow, and the 79-year-old has come out swinging!

He says Jack Butland should be England's number one choice as keeper because Joe Hart is making "terrible mistakes."

Hart, 30, is on loan from Manchester City at a West Ham side currently in the Premier League relegation zone.

He has won 75 caps but former keeper Banks told BBC Sport: "I don't think he is playing well, especially when they kick it to him and he can't pick up.

"I see him make terrible mistakes, lots of times he is lucky they don't score."

Football fans in Iran have been offering advice to a Russian sports journalist on how she should dress when she presents the 2018 World Cup finals draw in Moscow.

Maria Komandnaya, one of the hosts of the event on 1 December have urged her to dress modestly so Iranian TV viewers will be able to watch it without censorship.

When Komandnaya announced her involvement, external in the event alongside the BBC's regular football presenter Gary Lineker, there were a flurry of comments advising her on appropriate attire.

Image source, EPA

Iranian football fans are worried they may miss parts of the draw or any matches she may be involved in presenting because of the country's strict broadcasting guidelines.

Iranian state TV is known for using recorded footage during live international football matches in order to avoid having to show women in the stands.

In addition the state broadcaster refuses to cover World Cup draw events or Olympic opening ceremonies in full if one of the hosts is a woman wearing a dress.

During the 2014 FIFA World Cup draw ceremony, Iranian TV cut out many parts of the live broadcast due to the revealing clothing of the female Brazilian TV host.

We shall see...

There are 210 performers at today's draw so expect the usual dancing and all that jazz.

Gary Lineker is hosting the draw alongside Russian sports journalist Maria Komandnaya, while 10 legends of the game are helping out with the actual draw.

They include Gordon Banks, Diego Maradona, Laurent Blanc and Cafu.

England
World Cup winners 1966

Brazil and Argentina are the only non-European top seeds. And Euope is the only continent which can have two teams in a group.

This means that Argentina or Brazil cannot have another South American side in their group. Which is a roundabout way of saying that England have a good chance of being drawn in the groups of either Brazil or Argentina...

Ayo Obit: #Nigeria, external have been in 5 previous World Cups and in 4 of those have been drawn with #Argentina, external. 1 in 8 chance?.. more like 80% chance!

Indeed. Nigeria lost to Argentina in 1994, 2002, 2010 and 2014...

Image source, Getty Images

England are in pot two. Which top seed will they be hoping to be paired up with?

This obviously means that England cannot be drawn with any of these sides - so no Uruguay defeat this time. In the group stage, anyway...

The eight teams in pot two are:

England

Spain

Peru

Switzerland

Colombia

Mexico

Uruguay

Croatia

Image source, Getty Images

These eight teams will be allocated a group each - Russia are already in Group A.

The other seven who will take top spot in Groups B-H are:

Germany

Brazil

Portugal

Argentina

Belgium

Poland

France

England
World Cup winners 1966

Next summer will be Gareth Southgate's first major finals in charge of the national team.

"We've got to attempt to win each game, be as prepared as we can be, and see how far we can go," the 47-year-old told BBC Sport.

"Of course, a lot of these players are going to peak in two to four years' time, but we can't just write off the tournament. I don't think anyone in England would accept that.

"We can't go to a World Cup and not try to win it."

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) will give US$500,000 to each of the continent's World Cup teams.

Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia will receive the money ahead of next year's finals in Russia.

"The financial package will be used in order mainly to strengthen and improve the technical supervision of each team," a Caf statement read., external

The move is the first decision taken by a special committee set up to work with the five qualifiers.

Capital R: Brazil, England, Egypt, Australia - a true test & Australia in there for a World Cup ashes derby!

Audacity to dream: Poland Iran and Panama will do nicely

Metin: In England’s group? I’d take Argentina for all the history there, Iceland, be nice to get some payback, and Panama: I bet their fans would be raucous!

Not a bad seven-a-side team this one...

Banks

Cafu-Cannavaro-Blanc-Puyol

Maradona

Forlan

App users may need to click on the link to view this content.

Former Everton midfielder Tim Cahill will be heading to his fourth World Cup next summer.

Remember this?

He has predicted his group. Which is pointless. But it hasn't stopped thousands of you doing the same on twitter...

You may need to click on the link

If you're looking for the Netherlands or Italy on the list forget it - they didn't make it. Or the US.

BBC Persian's Pooria Jafereh tells us that Iran’s Carlos Queiroz (you may remember him from his days as Manchester United’s assistant manager) has decided his team will use Lokomotiv FC’s facilities just outside Moscow.

The camp only became available because Italy didn’t qualify.

Richard Conway
BBC Radio 5 live sports news correspondent

England would draw against Sweden - always. All or nothing v Panama?

As you will surely know by now, there are 32 teams in the hat for today's draw.

Here's who is in:

Image source, Getty Images

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Iceland, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia,South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia and Uruguay.

Unveiled on Tuesday, the official poster for Russia 2018 is proving very popular with the masses.

Dedicated to Soviet-era goalkeeping icon Lev Yashin, widely considered one of the game's greatest stoppers and the last keeper to win the Ballon d'Or, the poster is designed by Igor Gurovich. It features old school design techniques and aims to shed light on Russia's footballing heritage.

You can see plenty more classic posters courtesy of our friends on BBC Three here. Like this one:

Gary Flintoff
BBC Radio 5 live at the World Cup draw in Moscow

...in England!

Image source, BBC Sport