World Cup draw LIVE: England face USA, Iran and possibly Wales or Scotland at Qatar 2022

The World Cup draw marks a major landmark in a 12-year long journey that has attracted unprecedented global scrutiny over Qatar’s treatment of its two-million strong foreign workforce.

VIPs, football teams, coaches, officials and celebrities gathered for the event at the relatively new Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre on Friday. The building and the area it sits in is a testament to the transformation of the Qatari capital.

It is a modern, high-rise area, populated by malls, shops, high-rise offices, glittering hotels and high-end restaurants. Close to the convention centre is a stop for the new and expensively built metro system. A little further down the road are the offices of major energy companies and even the headquarters of the Qatari team organising the World Cup.

Qatar has been anxious to show that its World Cup, the first in the Middle East, will leave a legacy.

But some 3,400 kilometres (2,100 miles) away there was little interest at events taking place in the Qatari capital. But there is definitely a legacy.

Norway FA (NFF) president Lise Klaveness spoke at the Fifa Congress on Thursday to demand the World Cup organisers take a continued lead in promoting change on a humanitarian level, in the lead-up to the 2022 Qatar finals.

Speaking in Doha, Klaveness took to the stage in front of the Fifa Council and gathered member states to underline major ethical topics which had not been dealt with strongly enough by Fifa when selecting the hosts for the tournament this year, calling the decision to hand Qatar the finals “unacceptable”.

A former international who reached a World Cup semi-final with her nation, winning more than 70 caps along the way, Klaveness was appointed to the head of the game in Norway only at the start of March this year and is the country’s first female leader of the NFF.

Explaining how Norway had previously pondered excluding themselves from this year’s competition altogether in protest at Qatar’s human rights record, Klaveness went on to say football’s “core interests” had been ignored until external pressures highlighted their absence.

“Football can inspire dreams and break down barriers but as leaders we must do it right, to the highest standards,” she began.

It was a moment, in its own way, as electric as anything that has been happening in the World Cup play-offs. That was when Norwegian FA president Lise Klaveness forced everyone at Fifa Congress in Doha to confront the true cost of these games.

“In 2010, World Cups were awarded in unacceptable ways with unacceptable consequences,” she said in an impassioned call for inclusion and human rights. “The migrant workers injured, the families of those that died, must be cared for.”

Many in the room didn’t care for the discussion.

One federation head, clearly looking for his own 15 minutes of approval from the football family, insisted she should not have said that. That, apparently, is not the point. The point is all the World Cup livery, the sense of occasion in Doha.

Shortly afterwards, a package was shown with great moments from previous World Cups, the emotion echoed by that seen in Senegal, Algeria and the United States in the last few days.

That is what the World Cup is supposed to mean. That is what sportswashing projects are actually playing on.

When is the World Cup?

The biggest competition in men’s football has been shifted outside of a traditional early summer window for the first time, with the tournament due to be held in a condensed window in November and December due to the intense heat in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar - where the tournament is being held.

The competition begins on 21st November, with hosts Qatar in action on the opening day at the Al Bayt Stadium, and will conclude with the final on 18th December, to be held at the Lusail International Stadium.

How does the draw work?

Qualified teams will be seeded based on their position in the world rankings. Host nation Qatar are one of the eight top seeds, and will be joined by the seven top-ranked qualified sides.

The next eight are then allocated to Pot 2, and then another eight into Pot 3. Pot 4 will include the qualified teams in positions 24 to 28, plus three placeholders representing the two winners of the intercontinental play-offs and the remaining Uefa play-off winner.

One team from each pot is drawn into each group.

With the exception of Uefa, who can supply two nations to a single group, teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn alongside one another. For example, Argentina could not be in the same group as Uruguay, but England could face Croatia.

The groups for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar will be decided later today. All 32 competing teams will be slotted into eight groups of four in Doha ahead of the quadrennial global event, which will be held in November and December later this year.

As already qualified hosts, Qatar already know that they will be part of Group A.

The draw for the group stages will be held at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center and it is due to start at 5pm.

Viewers in the UK can watch live coverage of the World Cup draw on BBC One, with coverage due to begin at 4.45pm. It will also be available to stream via the BBC iPlayer or BBC Sport website.

Alternatively, Sky Sports will also be showing the proceedings live on their Premier League and Football channels. Coverage begins at 5pm, and subscribers can also watch on Sky Go.

One of the most notable absences from this year’s tourament are current European champions Italy. They failed to qualify after a shock play-off defeat to North Macedonia who then lost to Portugal in the play-off final.

Italy missed out on the World Cup finals again after losing 1-0 at home to North Macedonia as Aleksandar Trajkovski’s last-gasp strike earned the visitors a famous win.

European champions Italy did not qualify for the World Cup four years ago, their first failure to reach football’s global showpiece tournament since 1958, but they dominated from the off in Palermo and looked on course for victory.

The hosts became more desperate in their search for a winner after the break as chances continued to come and go before, in stoppage time, Trajkovski arrowed in a stunning winner to spark wild North Macedonian celebrations.

Now that all 32 nations are known, what are the World Cup draw pots?

Pot 1 (seeded teams): Qatar, Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, England, Spain, Portugal.

Pot 2: Mexico, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Uruguay, Switzerland, USA, Croatia.

Pot 3: Senegal, Iran, Japan, Morocco, Serbia, Poland, South Korea, Tunisia.

Pot 4: Cameroon, Canada, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Wales/Scotland/Ukraine, Costa Rica/New Zealand, UAE/Australia/Peru.

The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) are awarded a maximum of four places at the World Cup with three nations already qualified.

They are:

Canada

Mexico

USA

The fourth spot is decided in an intercontinental play-off with the representative team from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC). The OFC have a maximum of one spot in the World Cup and have to earn it through this play-off.

Costa Rica are the nation from Concacaf with New Zealand the OFC representative. They will face each other for the final World Cup place in June.

Five World Cup places are awarded to teams from Africa. Africa Cup of Nations winners, Senegal, defeated Egypt in their play-off match with Sadio Mane again scoring the winning penalty in a repeat of the Afcon final earlier this year.

All five qualifiers booked their places at the World Cup by winning two-legged play-offs. Those play-offs turned out to be largely close affairs as the away goals rule sent Cameroon and Ghana through.

The five African teams are:

Senegal

Cameroon

Ghana

Morocco

Tunisia