Follow live: 2022 World Cup finals draw

12:44 PM ET

Follow the draw for the 2022 FIFA World Cup live with ESPN, starting with all the build-up before the ceremony itself begins at 4 p.m. GMT, midday ET.

LIVE BLOG

NB: Please refresh the page to get the latest updates…..

12.44 ET / 16.44 / GMT: Now the draw procedure is being explained to us. Surely not long to go…

12.39 ET / 16.39 / GMT: The eight FIFA legends who will make the draw are now being introduced.

For a reminder, that’s Cafu (Brazil), Lothar Matthaus (Germany), Adel Ahmed MalAllah (Qatar), Ali Daei (IR Iran), Bora Milutinovic (Serbia/Mexico), Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Rabah Madjer (Algeria) and Tim Cahill (Australia).

12.35 ET / 16.35 GMT: We’ve just watched a video about the story of Qatar hosting the World Cup, and now U.S. soccer legend and two-time Women’s World Cup winner Carli Lloyd, former England player Jermaine Jenas and British-Jamaican sports presenter Samantha Johnson have entered the stage for the draw!

They are giving their own little speeches, so we won’t get any teams drawn out for a few minutes yet.

12.32 ET / 16.32 GMT: France coach Didier Deschamps is bringing out the World Cup trophy onto the stage. France won the 2018 World Cup final by beating Croatia 4-2. He’s answering a few questions from the hosts.

12.29 ET / 16.29 GMT: It’s time! Here’s a reminder of your draw pots.

12.27 ET / 16.27 GMT: Hosts Idris Elba and Reshmin Chowdhury are now wrapping up the first part of the ceremony with a tribute to some famous footballers who have died recently, including Diego Maradona, Gordon Banks and Gerd Muller.

12.25 ET / 16.25 GMT: So, this is how the draw is going to work.

– It will begin with Pot 1, the strongest pot. A team will be drawn into a position in each group (1, 2, 3 or 4) apart from Qatar, who will be A1.
– After Pot 1, we go through 2, 3 and 4 and empty each pot before moving on.
– There must be no more than one team from each region, apart from Europe. There will be 5 groups with two teams from Europe. Every group must have at least one team from Europe.

12.20 ET / 16.20 GMT: Not long to go now. FIFA president Gianni Infantino has arrived to give his pre-draw speech.

12.17 ET / 16.17 GMT: Every tournament must have an official mascot, and for the Qatar World Cup it’s La’eeb!

12.11 ET / 16.11 GMT: So who exactly is making the draw? Only some soccer legends!

Cafu (Brazil) and Lothar Matthaus (Germany) will team up with six more assistants. They are joined by Adel Ahmed MalAllah (Qatar), Ali Daei (IR Iran), Bora Milutinovic (Serbia/Mexico), Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Rabah Madjer (Algeria) and Tim Cahill (Australia).

12.05 ET / 16.05 GMT: The ceremony, hosted by actor Idris Elba, is getting under way in Doha.

Right now, there’s six people within illuminated rings spinning around on the stage. It’s what we all wanted, after all.

There’s plenty more of this stuff before we get any teams drawn.

11.59 ET / 15.59 GMT: The 2026 World Cup will be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada… and the presidents of the FAs have turned up to see how it’s done. From left to right, Canada’s Nick Bontis, U.S. Soccer Federation president Cindy Parlow Cone, and Mexican Football Federation president Yon de Luisa.

11.52 ET / 15.52 GMT: Looking at possible draws…. how about a group of England, United States, South Korea and Ghana? After all, the U.S. always draws Ghana!

Of course, the dream draw for the U.S. and Mexico, both in draw Pot 2, is to get the hosts, Qatar.

Qatar are ranked 51st in the world, while the rest of Pot 1 (Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, England, Spain, Portugal) are the top ranked countries in the world.

So U.S. and Mexico would love to get perhaps Qatar, South Korea and Ghana.

11.45 ET / 15.45 GMT: Only 15 minutes until the draw ceremony gets under way. This is what they’re all playing for…

11.41 ET / 15.41 GMT: Coach Tite and legends Kaka and Bebeto are among the entourage who are in Qatar to see who tournament favourites Brazil will get in their group.

11.36 ET / 15.36 GMT: After over 11 years since they won the bid to host the World Cup, Friday is a landmark day for Qatar’s biggest event yet. Now, stuff gets real. ESPN’s Gab Marcotti discusses Qatar as a surprise host country.

11.31 ET / 15.31 GMT: The United States failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2018. But this time it is BACK! What has changed since then?

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Taylor Twellman breaks down what’s changed for United States soccer from not qualifying in 2018 to now.

11.25 ET / 15.25 GMT: Qatar will be the smallest country to ever host a World Cup finals. Just to give you an idea of the size of Qatar (11,571 sq. km), it’s smaller than Connecticut (14,357 sq. km) — the home of ESPN in the U.S. The only states that are smaller than Qatar are Delaware (6,646 sq. km) and Rhode Island (4,001 sq. km.)

11.18 ET / 15.18 GMT: We will know the group stage fixtures and dates for all 32 teams as soon as the draw is made. However, we will have to wait to discover the venues and kickoff times. FIFA is going to optimise the order of matches for supporter demand and to fit in with local TV audiences for the participating teams.

– World Cup finals bracket and fixtures schedule

11.12 ET / 15.12 GMT: ESPN senior writer James Olley is already in the auditorium, and can show us how the Convention Center is filling up.

11.10 ET / 15.10 GMT: The guests are already arriving at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Center ahead of the draw.

The event is being hosted by U.S. soccer legend and two-time Women’s World Cup winner Carli Lloyd, former England player Jermaine Jenas and British-Jamaican sports presenter Samantha Johnson.

Here’s Carli chatting to U.S. men’s coach Gregg Berhalter on the red carpet.

11.00 ET / 15.00 GMT: Welcome to the 2022 World Cup finals draw…. LIVE! Over the next couple of hours we’ll give you a flavour of the draw and the highlights of the ceremony itself, which begins at 4 p.m. GMT, midday ET.

Pot 1 contains the hosts, Qatar, along with strongest seven nations according to the new FIFA World Ranking, which were published on Thursday ahead of the draw.

The other pots are filled in order of the FIFA World Ranking, apart from Pot 4, which contains the five lowest-ranked nations along with the winners of the three remaining playoffs (two intercontinental and the outstanding UEFA path involving Ukraine that are due to be played in June).

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