World Cup draw LIVE: England face USA, Iran and possibly Wales or Scotland at Qatar 2022
Follow all the latest updates as the Qatar 2022 World Cup group stage draw completed in Doha
Follow all the latest updates and reaction from Qatar 2022 as the World Cup group stage draw took place in Doha this afternoon.
England were drawn into Group B alongside USA, Iran and the winner of the three teams still alive in the European play-offs - namely Wales, Scotland and Ukraine. If Wales - who are through to the play-off final - or Scotland reach the World Cup, it will set up a tantalising Battle of Britain in Qatar.
Spain and Germany were drawn together in a standout tie in Group E, while hosts Qatar face Netherlands, the Africa Cup of Nations champions Senegal and Ecuador in Group A.
Gareth Southgate, who was in attendance at the draw, has been optimistic about England’s chances but insisted they will have to be “close to perfect” to lift the trophy later this year. The tournament will also likely represent the final chance for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to clinch World Cup glory before the end of their careers. Ronaldo’s Portugal are in Group H with Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea, while Messi’s Argentina face Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Poland in Group C.
Follow all the latest updates after the draw below:
World Cup 2022 draw
Jermaine Jenas, Carli Lloyd and Samantha Johnson come onto the stage to conduct the draw. They introduce the former players who will be drawing out the teams.
Cafu (Brazil), Lothar Matthaus (Germany), Adel Ahmed MalAllah (Qatar), Ali Daei (Iran), Bora Milutinovic (Serbia/Mexico), Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Rabah Madjer (Algeria) and Tim Cahill (Australia).
World Cup 2022 draw
Didier Deschamps - a World Cup champion as a player and manager - brings out the trophy ahead of the draw. There’ll be a few more things to sort out before the balls are drawn out though.
World Cup 2022 draw
Qatar Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani comes onto the stage and says “nobody wants to listen to our speeches before the draw” and thankfully keeps his own speech pretty short.
World Cup 2022 draw
Infantino ends his speech by claiming this will be a World Cup for ‘peace and unity’ after talking about how football can unite people in turbulent times.
He vaguely asks for world leaders to stop conflicts and wars but doesn’t mention any specific names.
World Cup 2022 draw
Fifa president Gianni Infantino comes out onto the stage to give his introductory speech. He starts with thanking Qatar for hosting the tournament and says it will be ‘the greatest World Cup ever.’
World Cup 2022 draw
And here is La’eeb - the official mascot for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
World Cup 2022 draw
Is the draw on TV?
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.
World Cup 2022 draw
This World Cup draw will place the 32 nations into eight groups of four.
Teams are seeded based on the Fifa world rankings released on 31st March. Hosts Qatar will be given position A1 from Pot 1 and the top seven ranked teams who have qualified are the other top seeds. England are in pot one.
The three play-off winners not yet decided (Wales v Scotland/Ukraine, Costa Rica v Nthem.ew Zealand, UAE/Australia v Peru) will be in the bottom pot of seeds.
The draw will start with the teams in the pot one, move onto pot two and so forth, finishing with pot four.
After a team is drawn out, a second ball will be drawn to decide which group they are in.
Teams from the same continent will be kept apart - except for European countries, where a maximum of two can be in any one group.
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