Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales

As we've just heard from John Murray, England boss Thomas Tuchel and his Scotland counterpart Steve Clarke are in Washington DC for the draw.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill is also attending but Wales head coach Craig Bellamy hasn't made the trip.

We'll hear Bellamy's thoughts on Wales' potential World Cup opponents when he speaks to the media on Monday morning.

Northern Ireland and Wales are in the same play-off path so only one of them will be able to qualify in March - and that is only if they are able to see off Italy and Bosnia-Herzegovina respectively.

We won't discover which stadiums each game will be in and kick-off times until tomorrow in a Fifa global broadcast at 17:00 GMT.

So teams (and fans) will know which three teams they're playing today - but they won't be able to properly plan until tomorrow.

There are 16 host stadiums, separated by 2,800 miles over three of the biggest countries in the world.

Read our stadium guide here.

"Fifa is the official happiness provider for humanity," he says.

Presenter Heidi Klum calls Fifa president Gianni Infantino onto the stage.

Because this is the biggest World Cup ever, it means there are more debutants than normal.

Curacao and Cape Verde are the two smallest teams ever to reach the event.

Jordan and Uzbekistan are in it for the first time too.

And Suriname and New Caledonia are in the play-offs.

Read about all of it here.

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
reporting from Philadelphia

Image source, BBC / Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu

At a viewing party here in Philadelphia, one of the 2026 host cities, I have been asking fans for their preferred group stage match pairings.

I have been speaking to American Brian Gebey and Yoli Arevalo, who is from Mexico and lives in the city. Both are excited and hoping for some big name teams to play here in their backyard.

Yoli’s prediction: Mexico, Uruguay, South Africa and Italy.

Brian’s prediction: Mexico, Croatia, South Africa and Jordan

Julien Laurens
European football expert on BBC Radio 5 Live Euro Leagues

On potential tough groups.

Avoiding Norway from pot three would probably be welcomed by a lot of countries. They are the ones to avoid from pot three.

I know they haven't been there [the World Cup] for a long time and this generation of Martin Odegaard and Erling Haaland don't have the major tournament experience.

But as we saw in their qualifiers they are obviously very good, especially going forward. No-one will want to face Haaland and Odegaard.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

World Cup 1994 delivered glitz and glamour beyond the pitch that had rarely been seen at the competition before, and it began long before the tournament itself.

The draw was held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in December 1993, with legendary actor and comedian Robin Williams drawing the teams in front of crowd packed full of celebrities and star names.

The organisers were keen to drive interest in the World Cup but also the soon-to-be-launched Major League Soccer, having promised Fifa the United States would start a professional league.

"The draw in the past was pure football, it was just decided who was going to play who, we wrapped it around huge entertainment,” explains former US Soccer president Alan Rothenberg.

"We had a gala the night before with Smokey Robinson and James Brown. We had a soccer expo, where we were introducing the skeletal version of Major League Soccer. We invited would-be investors, media coverage, broadcasters, sponsors, anyone who might have an interest.

"We really exploited the interest in the final draw more than just who would be in what groups. The draw itself had the brilliant comic, Robin Williams. We did everything we could think of to create the impression this was a must-do event and it worked.”

Image source, Getty Images

Rothenberg, now 86, has been recalling his time organising the 1994 World Cup for his memoir, The Big Bounce: The Surge That Shaped the Future of US Soccer, and notes the focus on turning the tournament into a must-see event for an American public that was still sceptical in places.

"The way we staged the whole World Cup changed everything,” remembers Rothenberg. "When we started, we didn't think there was much knowledge or interest in the World Cup in the United States, but what we did know is Americans love a big event.

“So we wrapped ourselves around celebrities and entertainers. We had intelligent distribution of tickets, so every time we put some up, they sold out. We created the impression this was a hot ticket, a big event and you had to get involved with it.

"We did a lot of things that had never been done before. The only non-soccer event that had been tied to a World Cup before that was the Three Tenors concert (at Italia ’90). We built off that hugely, we had four super talented big-name entertainers, as well as our version of the Three Tenors.”

Jane Lewis
BBC Sport Scotland in Washington

The world’s media has descended upon the Kennedy Centre in Washington. There is such a sense of occasion here. It’s a real 'pinch me' moment to be here. I’m not sure I’ve seen so many big, and I mean big, blacked out cars.

Andrea Bocelli sings Nessun Dorma to kick this show off.

Italia 90 vibes.

Image source, PA Media

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
reporting from Philadelphia

Image source, BBC / Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu

Excitement is building ahead of today's draw.

Jim House and his son Maxwell drove about 30 minutes from Atlantic City to Philadelphia to watch the ceremony at an event organised by the local host committee.

Maxwell,13, wearing a US Men's National Team shirt, is excited the World Cup is coming to his local area and believes it will drive interest for future athletes. “More people would decide to play it over the more popular sports, like baseball or football,” he says.

As for the draw, they are hoping the US avoid some of the favourites for as long as possible. "I kind of hope the US makes it a few rounds in,” Jim, wearing a Philadelphia Union shirt, tells me. "I hope it's not like they go in and get knocked out. I hope I feel like that would help keep the interests going, rooting for the home team.”

There is consensus in the household that Spain will emerge as winners next summer.

John Murray is standing outside the venue in his coat getting absolutely pelted with snow.

He's pointed out the irony that the heat is going to be a big issue next summer.

BBC Radio 5 Live commentator Ian Dennis has tweeted all these notes he's made.

TV coverage is starting now on this page, BBC Two and the iPlayer.

Guillem Balague
Spanish football journalist on BBC Radio 5 Live Euro Leagues

I came up with one possibility which is Spain, Colombia (with James Rodriguez, Luis Diaz, Daniel Munoz, Jhon Duran), Egypt (with Marmoush, Salah, Trezeguet) and Italy (if they qualify).

That sounds like four teams that should be in the next round.

Dafydd Pritchard
BBC Sport Wales

Qualifying for next year's World Cup could earn Wales more than £10m, a significant amount of which would be invested in grassroots football.

That is according to Football Association of Wales chief executive Noel Mooney, who says additional sponsorship bonuses could generate millions more to improve facilities across the country.

Wales are two wins away from qualifying for their second successive World Cup and only a third in their history.

Craig Bellamy's side host Bosnia-Herzegovina in their play-off semi-final on 26 March and, if victorious, will face Italy or Northern Ireland in Cardiff five days later for a place in the 2026 World Cup.

Mooney said participation was worth about $10.5m (£7.9m) to Wales before costs of travel and player and staff payments brought that figure down to about $4m (£3m).

But he added: "Also you're looking at sponsorship bonuses and the interest around the association grows around that. You have sponsorships that have specified amounts that come to us.

"We've seen progress [in grassroots facilities] but there's a lot more to be done so should we get to the World Cup you're looking at $3m or $4m that goes towards the grassroots game."

Read more: 'World Cup could earn millions for Welsh grassroots'

Image source, Fifa

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.