The draw for the World Cup is upon us and the Republic of Ireland have a genuine interest. Here is all you need to know.
WHEN AND WHERE IS THE DRAW?
Friday's draw will take place at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at 5pm Irish time.
HOW CAN I WATCH?
Watch on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport
FORMAT
In this edition 48 teams will compete in the World Cup. There will be 12 groups of four teams.
A bit like the European Championships, the top two teams in each group and the best performing third place sides will progress to the knockout rounds.
In another new development, the top four ranked sides - Spain, Argentina, France and England - will be kept apart until the semi-finals if they win their groups.
FIFA claim this is "in the interest of competitive balance".
On the draw itself, there will be four pots of 12 teams each, done on FIFA rankings.
FIFA has also introduced pre-determined group positions to avoid them having to be drawn separately. This will help shorten the draw and keep it under an hour.
Groups can also only feature a maximum of two European teams, while no other confederation can have more than one team per group.
The three co-hosts have already been put into groups for scheduling and travel reasons.
Mexico will be in Group A, Canada in Group B and the USA in Group D.
WHERE DO THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND FEATURE?
So, as you may know, Ireland are in the play-offs as it stands and must win two matches to progress to the World Cup.
Let's allow ourselves to dream.
Four spots remains for UEFA countries in the play-off system, all will be in Pot 4, so they will get difficult draws.
We will be known as UEFA Play-Off Path D.
ARE ALL THE POTS KNOWN?
Yes. As Ireland are in Pot 4, you can rule out the other teams within the pot as possible opponents.
Pot 4 is made up of Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curacao, Haiti, New Zealand, the four UEFA play-off teams and two more inter-confederation play-off winners.
The three other pots are:
Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany.
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia.
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa.
So as mentioned, certain teams have already been assigned with the hosting in mind.
Ater that, it's largely luck of the draw.
AND THE FIXTURES AND TICKETS?
The schedule and confirmed venues for all matches will be announced on Saturday.
We only know about the hosts so far.
As of last week FIFA said almost two million tickets had already been sold.
The first sales window after the draw will begin on 11 December and run until 13 January.
Ireland fans can buy tickets for matches in the hope we get there and re-sell them through a FIFA portal if not.
WHAT IS A POTENTIAL GROUP OF DEATH?
With the expanded format, it does reduce the chances of a strong nation being eliminated in the group phase.
Nevertheless, there are some tough draws out there for countries. For example, Norway were so impressive in qualifying and have been put into Pot 3.
It's possible a group could consist of a powerhouse South American side like Brazil/Argentina, a Pot 2 European side and the Norweigans.
Scotland are also in Pot 3 and will certainly prove a tough opponent for some Pot 2 teams.
Morocco are in Pot 2 after their brilliant performance in the last tournament.
For Ireland, the worst possible draw would be a Brazil or Argentina, Morocco and Norway.
AND THE BEST DRAW?
Being paired with a host nation firstly as they are the weakest of the top seeds.
Canada is the draw everyone will seek. They are ranked 73rd in the world.
From the second seeds, Australia and Austria are probably the best picks.
And the third is quite hard to know. Newcomers Uzbekistan would enter the fray, with Qatar also in the mix.
Panama were trounced in their 2016 appearance and would also be welcome.
WHAT ABOUT THE PAGENTARY?
If a normal FIFA draw is tedious, there may be a more political element to this one to add to the formalities.
The Village People, yes you read that right, will deliver a rendition of "YMCA"
The song was played regularly during President Donald Trump's campaign rallies and he is expected to be present for the draw.
Model Heidi Klum, comedian Kevin Hart and actor Danny Ramirez will be co-hosts.
Andrea Bocelli and Robbie Williams, FIFA's music ambassador, and American singer Nicole Scherzinger will be among the musical performers.
FIFA also plans to unveil its new "Peace Prize: Football Unites the World" during the event, an award widely expected to go to President Trump after his calls for a Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year.
Additional reporting: PA and Reuters
