World Cup draw 2018 - live updates: Reaction after England land Belgium, Panama and Tunisia in Group G
Latest reaction from the draw in Moscow after the Three Lions learned their fate
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The 2018 World Cup draw has taken place, with the 32 nations that have qualified for next summer’s tournament in Russia now knowing who they must beat if they are to become world champions.
We have all the latest reaction from Moscow, where our Chief Football Writer Miguel Delaney is in place inside the Kremlin State Place.
England were in pot two for the draw because of their middling Fifa world ranking – but Gareth Southgate’s side avoided any of the tournament favourites and instead will face Belgium, Panama and Tunisia in Group G.
Follow all of the latest below.
All you need to know:
When is it?
The draw for the group stages of the 2018 World Cup will be held at 3pm GMT on Friday 1st December, in Moscow. It will take place at the Kremlin.
Where can I watch it?
The draw will be shown live on Sky Sports or alternatively you can follow The Independent’s live blog to find out which group your country will be allocated into.
Who is in it?
The teams qualified are:
Uefa (Europe): Russia (hosts) France, Portugal, Germany, Serbia, Poland, England, Spain, Belgium, Iceland, Switzerland, Croatia, Sweden, Denmark
Conmebol (South America): Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Colombia, Peru.
Concacaf (North/Central America and Caribbean): Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama
AFC (Asia): Iran Football, South Korea Football, Japan Football, Saudi Arabia
CAF (Africa): Tunisia, Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, Egypt
For those of you enjoy a gamble or two. Odds as follows...
England have been the big movers. They were 25/1 pre-draw but are now just 16/1.
Germany and Brazil remain favourites.
FIFA World Cup 2018 – Outright Betting: 5/1 Germany, 5/1 Brazil, 6/1 France, 15/2 Spain, 8/1 Argentina, 12/1 Belgium, 16/1 England, 25/1 Colombia, 25/1 Portugal, 28/1 Croatia, 33/1 Russia, 40/1 Uruguay, 50/1 Poland, 66/1 Denmark, 66/1 Sweden, 66/1 Mexico, 80/1 Switzerland, 80/1 Serbia, 125/1 Iceland, 125/1 Nigeria, 150/1 Senegal, 200/1 Morocco, 200/1 Australia, 225/1 Japan, 250/1 South Korea, 250/1 Peru, 300/1 Costa Rica, 300/1 Egypt, 500/1 Iran, 500/1 Tunisia, 1000/1 Saudi Arabia, 1000/1 Panama
*Each Way 1/2 Odds 2Places
Assuming there are no upsets in the other groups, here's what England's route to the final will look like if they top their group:
Colombia (last-16)
Brazil (quarter-finals)
France (semi-finals)
Germany (final)
And here's what England's route would look like if they finished runners-up in Group G:
- Poland (last-16)
- Germany (quarter-finals)
- Spain (semi-finals)
- Brazil (final)
A closer look at Group G and England's opponents from reporter Luke Brown.
Take a read, you know you want to...
Gareth Southgate has been speaking to the BBC. Here's some snippets from that conversation.
"It's fantastic to be here, really looking forward to getting on with it.
"It's been great today mixing with some of the more experienced coaches in terms of World Cups.
"It's been for me, personally, an incredible honour.
Southgate in Moscow
"The whole country now knows what is coming and can get prepared for it.
"We've got to focus on our first game. There'll be ups and downstairs along the way. We've got to be prepared for that.
"Travel wise the tournament is done so you've got to be adaptable. Kick-off times are decent for us too."
When asked about the six-day break between Tunisia and Panama, he said: "If there's some injuries it gives us the time for them to clear up."
Southgate wasn't too eager to write off our lesser opponents, though. "We've been good at writing teams off and then getting beaten by them," he laughed.
Former England captain Shearer told the BBC: "I don't want to say it's a good group or a bad group because I've heard it so many times over the years.
"We've got six days of rest after our first game, which if they are worried about travel, that shouldn't be an issue."
Shearer believes Southgate will be "quietly pleased" with England's group, despite the firepower Belgium have at their disposal.
"Eden Hazard, (Romelu) Lukaku, (Kevin) De Bruyne, who are all having excellent seasons - that will be a very, very tough game," he added.
"They have got some top quality players in that team. We've been saying it for a while now that they should go a distance in the tournament because of the number of players they have at their disposal."
The full fixture schedule can be seen below. England's fixtures highlighted in bold:
GROUP STAGES
Thursday, June 14: Russia v Saudi Arabia (Group A) Moscow (Luzhniki) 4pm
Friday, June 15: Egypt v Uruguay (Group A) Ekaterinburg 1pm
Friday, June 15: Morocco v Iran (Group B) St Petersburg 4pm
Friday, June 15: Portugal v Spain (Group B) Sochi 7pm
Saturday, June 16: France v Australia (Group C) Kazan 11am
Saturday, June 16: Argentina v Iceland (Group D) Moscow (Spartak) 2pm
Saturday, June 16: Peru v Denmark (Group C) Saransk 5pm
Saturday, June 16: Croatia v Nigeria (Group D) Kaliningrad 8pm
Sunday, June 17: Costa Rica v Serbia (Group E) Samara 1pm
Sunday, June 17: Germany v Mexico (Group F) Moscow (Luzhniki) 4pm
Sunday, June 17: Brazil v Switzerland (Group E) Rostov-on-Don 7pm
Monday, June 18: Sweden v South Korea (Group F) Nizhny Novgorod 1pm
Monday, June 18: Belgium v Panama (Group G) Sochi 4pm
Monday, June 18: Tunisia v England (Group G) Volgograd 7pm
Tuesday, June 19: Poland v Senegal (Group H) Moscow (Spartak) 1pm
Tuesday, June 19: Colombia v Japan (Group H) Saransk 4pm
Tuesday, June 19: Russia v Egypt (Group A) St Petersburg 7pm
Wednesday, June 20: Portugal v Morocco (Group B) Moscow (Luzhniki) 1pm
Wednesday, June 20: Uruguay v Saudi Arabia (Group A) Rostov-on-Don 4pm
Wednesday, June 20: Iran v Spain (Group B) Kazan 7pm
Thursday, June 21: France v Peru (Group C) Ekaterinburg 1pm
Thursday, June 21: Denmark v Australia (Group C) Samara 4pm
Thursday, June 21: Argentina v Croatia (Group D) Nizhny Novgorod 7pm
Friday, June 22: Brazil v Costa Rica (Group E) St Petersburg 1pm
Friday, June 22: Nigeria v Iceland (Group D) Volgograd 4pm
Friday, June 22: Serbia v Switzerland (Group E) Kaliningrad 7pm
Saturday, June 23: Belgium v Tunisia (Group G) Moscow (Spartak) 1pm
Saturday, June 23: Germany v Sweden (Group F) Sochi 4pm
Saturday, June 23: South Korea v Mexico (Group F) Rostov-on-Don 7pm
Sunday, June 24: England v Panama (Group G) Nizhny Novgorod 1pm
Sunday, June 24: Japan v Senegal (Group H) Ekaterinburg 4pm
Sunday, June 24: Poland v Colombia (Group H) Kazan 7pm
Monday, June 25: Uruguay v Russia (Group A) Samara 3pm
Monday, June 25: Saudi Arabia v Egypt (Group A) Volgograd 3pm
Monday, June 25: Spain v Morocco (Group B) Kaliningrad 7pm
Monday, June 25: Iran v Portugal (Group B) Saransk 7pm
Tuesday, June 26: Denmark v France (Group C) Moscow (Luzhniki) 3pm
Tuesday, June 26: Australia v Peru (Group C) Sochi 3pm
Tuesday, June 26: Nigeria v Argentina (Group D) St Petersburg 7pm
Tuesday, June 26: Iceland v Croatia (Group D) Rostov-on-Don 7pm
Wednesday, June 27: South Korea v Germany (Group F) Kazan 3pm
Wednesday, June 27: Mexico v Sweden (Group F) Ekaterinburg 3pm
Wednesday, June 27: Serbia v Brazil (Group E) Moscow (Spartak) 7pm
Wednesday, June 27: Switzerland v Costa Rica (Group E) Nizhny Novgorod 7pm
Thursday, June 28: Japan v Poland (Group H) Volgograd 3pm
Thursday, June 28: Senegal v Colombia (Group H) Samara 3pm
Thursday, June 28: England v Belgium (Group G) Kaliningrad 7pm
Thursday, June 28: Panama v Tunisia (Group G) Saransk 7pm
LAST 16
Saturday, June 30: 1C v 2D Kazan 3pm (Match 50)
Saturday, June 30: 1A v 2B Sochi 7pm (Match 49)
Sunday, July 1: 1B v 2A Moscow (Luzhniki) 3pm (Match 51)
Sunday, July 1: 1D v 2C Nizhny Novgorod 7pm (Match 52)
Monday, July 2: 1E v 2F Samara 3pm (Match 53)
Monday, July 2: 1G v 2H Rostov-on-Don 7pm (Match 54)
Tuesday, July 3: 1F v 2E St Petersburg 3pm (Match 55)
Tuesday, July 3: 1H v 2G Moscow (Spartak) 7pm (Match 56)
QUARTER-FINALS
Friday, July 6: Winner match 49 v winner match 50 Nizhny Novgorod 3pm (Match 57)
Friday, July 6: Winner match 53 v winner match 54 Kazan 7pm (Match 58)
Saturday, July 7: Winner match 55 v winner match 56 Samara 3pm (Match 60)
Saturday, July 7: Winner match 51 v winner match 52 Sochi 7pm (Match 59)
SEMI-FINALS
Tuesday, July 10: Winner match 57 v winner match 58 St Petersburg 7pm
Wednesday, July 11: Winner match 59 v winner match 60 Moscow (Luzhniki) 7pm
THIRD-PLACE PLAY-OFF
Saturday, July 14: St Petersburg 3pm
FINAL
Sunday, July 15: Moscow (Luzhniki) 4pm
[NB: All times listed BST. Kaliningrad is one hour ahead of BST. Kazan, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-on-Don, St Petersburg, Saransk, Sochi and Volgograd are two hours ahead of BST. Samara is three hours ahead of BST. Ekaterinburg is four hours ahead of BST.]
More soundbites from Gareth.
Asked what he knows about Tunisia, Southgate added: "We've got to find that out now. We haven't done as much research on the African teams as yet.
"That's what's great; you know where you're playing, who you're playing and now we can really start to focus in on that.
"There's a little bit of travelling (after the first game) and maybe gives us the opportunity for injuries if we get them to clear up. You're always grateful for as much preparation time as possible for any game."
Russia will have some homework to do before facing Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay at the World Cup.
Manager Stanislav Cherchesov said afterwards: "We've never played any of these teams and I've never seen them."
He added: "The only thing we know is that (Liverpool forward Mohamed) Salah plays for Egypt ... and that (Edinson) Cavani and Luis (Suarez) play for Uruguay."
Russia will face Saudi Arabia on June 14 in the opening game of the World Cup in Moscow. The host team will then play Egypt on June 19 in St. Petersburg and Uruguay six days later in Samara.
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