Fifa World Cup 2018 draw - England draw Belgium, Tunisia and Panama in group stage

That's it from us. Now it is just the small matter of waiting 192 days for the World Cup to get started at the Luzhniki Stadium on 14 June. We will see you then.

Our final entry for the day; if you already envisaging glory for Gareth Southgate's side and have been busy planning the your own route to the final in Moscow on 15 June, you will need to have a space £5,000 lying around. Here are some early predictions on the cost of following England next summer.

So let's talk about Panama. The Central American nation are in the World Cup for the first time in their history. Of their recent names to feature in their squad, five ply their trade in Europe with striker Gabriel Torres playing in the Swiss Super League with Lausanne-Sport. Roman Torres meanwhile is an MLS Cup winner with Seattle Sounders.

Gareth Southgate has been reflecting on a pretty tidy group stage draw for England. [via BBC Radio 5 Live]

We know everything about Belgium. I think that will capture the imagination back home as they have so many players in our league. They have probably the best group of players they've ever had.

"My experience of tournaments is you need to get a result in all three matches. Tunisia takes me back to Marseille in 1998. Leading my country into a World Cup is an incredibly exciting moment for me.

"It could fit perfectly with what we have arranged [for pre-tournament friendlies]. We'll let you know what those are when they're finalised.

"What's exciting is we can start to put some meat on the bones of what we do at the end of the season. Our season finishes later than some of the other countries.

There is Premier League representation in every single World Cup group, here's a bit of reaction from some of them.

There is another old face in Tunisia, who joined England in the group stages for the 1998 finals in France.

In their opening match of the competition, Alan Shearer scored just before half-time with Paul Scholes adding a second late on.

It wasn't a bad side back then.

The last time England and Belgium met at a World Cup? Gazza was on the scene. David Platt's winner the 119th minute of playing time sealed victory and saw England progress to the quarter-finals where they beat Cameroon. West Germany were waiting in the semi-finals and, well... you know the rest.

At a glance, Groups B, E and G look relatively straight forward but things are looking very competitive elsewhere. Is there a clear winner in Group A? How about H? While you would have Argentina sealing top spot in Group D it will be a real scrap for second place between Iceland, Croatia and Nigeria and should the former world champions slip up at all, things could get very interesting.

Here's a bit of Twitter reaction to England's draw where a lot of club teammates are going to find themselves on opposing sides.

The opening game for the 2018 World Cup? Russia vs Saudi Arabia. Don't even pretend you won't be watching it. Of those early eye-catching fixtures, Portugal vs Spain on a Friday night stands out. Get the beers in...

That wasn't too bad at all for England after all. Of all the international heavyweights they could have been grouped with, Belgium represents a decent result. Tunisia, opponents at the same stage of the competition in France 1998, must surely be considered a winnable game and in tournament, leaving it down to tournament deubtants Panama to cause a stir.

And that's that! The complete draw for the group stages of the 2018 World Cup.

Group A – Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Uruguay
Group B – Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Iran
Group C – France, Australia, Peru, Denmark
Group D – Argentina, Iceland, Croatia, Nigeria
Group E – Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia
Group F – Germany, Mexico, Sweden, Korea Republic
Group G – Belgium, Panama, Tunisia, England
Group H – Poland, Senegal, Colombia, Japan

Group H – Poland, Colombia, Senegal, Japan

Japan take H4

Group F, Germany, Mexico, Sweden, Korea Republic

Korea take F4

Group G – Belgium, England, Tunisia, Panama

Panama take G2

Group D – Argentina, Croatia, Iceland, Nigeria

Nigeria take D4

Group C – France, Peru, Denmark, Australia

Australia take C2

Group B – Portugal, Spain, Iran, Morocco

Morocco take B3

Group E – Brazil, Switzerland, Cosa Rica, Serbia

Serbia take E4

Group A – Russia, Uruguay, Egypt, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia take A2

Group A – Russia, Uruguay, Egypt,
Group B – Portugal, Spain, Iran
Group C – France, Peru, Denmark
Group D – Argentina, Croatia, Iceland
Group E – Brazil, Switzerland, Cosa Rica
Group F, Germany, Mexico, Sweden
Group G – Belgium, England, Tunisia
Group H – Poland, Colombia, Senegal

Group H – Poland, Colombia, Senegal

Senegal H2

Group G – Belgium, England, Tunisia

Tunisia take G3

Group F, Germany, Mexico, Sweden

Sweden take F3

Group E – Brazil, Switzerland, Cosa Rica

Costa Rica take E3

Group D – Argentina, Croatia, Iceland

Iceland take D2

Group B – Portugal, Spain, Iran

Iran take B4

Group C – France, Peru, Denmark

Denmark take C4

Group A – Russia, Uruguay, Egypt

Egypt take A3

Group A – Russia, Uruguay
Group B – Portugal, Spain,
Group C – France, Peru
Group D – Argentina, Croatia
Group E – Brazil, Switzerland
Group F, Germany, Mexico
Group G – Belgium, England
Group H – Poland, Colombia

Group H – Poland, Colombia

Colombia take H3

Group G – Belgium, England

England take G4

Group F, Germany, Mexico

Mexico take F2

Group E – Brazil, Switzerland

Switzerland take E2.

Group D – Argentina, Croatia

Croatia take D3.

Group C – France, Peru

Peru take C3.

Group B – Portugal, Spain

Spain take B2.

Group A – Russia, Uruguay

Uruguay take spot 4 in Group A.

H1 - Poland

G1 - Belgium

F1 - Germany

E1 - Brazil

D1 - Argentina

C1 - France

B1 - Portugal

Well, we all knew this one; the first allocation.

A1 – Russia

Now is about the time you log onto Twitter to be greeted by countless messages of GET ON WITH IT 'FFS'.

Here they are: Gary Lineker and Maria Komandnaya hit the stage and we should be ready to go in a few minutes.

Now we are heating up a bit. The assistants for the draw are making their way onto stage and England great Gordon Banks is the first man out.

"Good stuff" Jonathan Pearce mutters as that draws to a close. He approves.

The World Cup's all-time top goal scorer Miroslav Klose has just carried the famous old trophy out onto the stage and now we are being treated to a bit of folk-dancing from the Moiseyev Ballet. It's what we are all here for.

Vladimir Putin and Fifa President Gianni Infantino are centre stage to lead the opening stages of the ceremony, we've caught snippets of them discussing "friendship" and "values". We'll leave it at that.

Here's the England contingent in their seats. Remember Greg Dyke's throat-cut gesture four years ago? Somehow I don't expect a very stern-faced Martin Glenn to get involved with that sort of carry on.

It's 3pm, but of course there is no sight of the draw actually taking place yet. Hold tight.

Amid all the conspiracy theories about heated balls for this draw, Russia's look like they have come straight out of the oven.

Just over 10 minutes to go until the group stage draw programme officially begins. Some final preparations are being carried out at the Kremlin.

Who's new?

Along with Iceland, Panama are making their World Cup bow next summer. The Central American nation scored a memorable 88th minute winner against Costa Rica to book their place in the finals at the expense of the United States – although an earlier 'ghost goal' in that game meant there was plenty of ire elsewhere.

In any case, they are here now and we would like to bet good money on this track being used in a video package ahead of their opening match next summer.

Pre-World Cup draw bingo at the Kremlin? Get in there.

Who is involved today?

Gary Lineker, who not too long ago described Fifa as a "revolting organisation", will lead proceedings alongside Fox Sports journalist Maria Komandnaya this afternoon. The hosts will be joined by their lovely assistants in Cafu, Laurent Blanc, Nikita Simonyan, Gordon Banks, Fabio Cannavaro Diego Forlan and Carles Puyol and Diego Maradona to assist them in the draw.

The Argentina legend was forced to miss the unveiling of the Fifa World Cup draw assistants (yes, that was actually a thing) on Thursday due to an unspecified health problem but we are sure he will pick it up as he goes along today.

Here are some of the lads during yesterday's draw rehearsal, taken shortly after Carles Puyol rolled out of bed.

What scenarios face England this afternoon?

England were dealt a particularly tricky hand in Brazil four years ago when they were place in a group with Italy and Uruguay – although that didn't account for them finishing bottom of their group behind Costa Rica.

The likelihood of drawing two opponents of such calibre is slimmer this time around but the worst case scenario would feed them into the path of five-time World Cup winners Brazil from a heavyweight-laden Pot 1.

From Pot three the prospect of another meeting with Iceland looms – a year on from their wretched Euro 2016 elimination at the hands of the tiny nation who are making their World Cup debut. Nigeria would complete a tricky route to the knock-out stages.

A lighter alternative for Gareth Southgate and his side would be dropping into a group alongside Poland, Iran and Panama.

Diego Maradona was reportedly a little under the weather yesterday but he's had a shave, found a suit and stuck on a sensational bow-tie for this afternoon's show.

Kanu is here! All the A listers are starting to arrive.

More dull stuff: How the draw works

From each pot, teams will be entered into one of eight groups from Group A to Group H. Each group will contain four teams. Two non-European teams from the same confederations cannot be placed in the same group, while from the 14 Europeans teams, there cannot be more than two in the same group. The revised format means there is no prospect of a real Group of Death – like 2014's grouping of Spain, Netherlands, Chile and Australia.

The team will be drawn in pot order, with their position in the group also drawn to determine the order of their opponents. Russia will automatically be placed into position A1 and will play the team drawn in A2 in the opening game in Moscow on 14 June.

The draw is only complete when all 32 teams are positioned in the eight groups.

Let's get the basics out of the way first. The 32 teams taking part in Russia next summer have been divided into four posts for this afternoon's draw, based on their Fifa world ranking at the end of qualifying in October. As hosts, Russia were automatically placed in Pot 1 alongside the seven highest ranked sides.

Almost seven years on from Russia being named hosts for the biggest sporting event in the world, the official countdown for the 2018 World Cup begins today.

The backdrop to next summer's showcase event is as colourful as it gets; allegations of corruption, Russia's doping scandal, friction between the east and west, concerns over the threat of terrorism and the possibility of widespread hooliganism are all part of the tapestry that will make the tournament perhaps the most politicised in the history of sport.

But at least for today, the focus is on the teams. From inside the State Kremlin Palace, the 31 nations that progressed through an exhaustive qualifying campaign along with the hosts will discover which three opponents will join them in the group phase of the competition.

Given Fifa's penchant for making these sort of proceedings as dry as humanly possible – see every previous draw and every single Ballon d'Or ceremony ever for your proof – we will do our best to keep you entertained.