The World Cup kicks off in 188 days, and the countdown truly begins with the draw taking place on Friday.

The 42 nations who've already qualified, as well as the 22 still hoping to do so via various play-offs, are all involved, so here is everything you need to know ahead of this eagerly-anticipated event.

The draw takes place at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on Friday 5 December. It will start at noon (ET) and 5pm (GMT) and is scheduled to take around an hour and 40 minutes.

UEFA A: Italy vs Northern Ireland & Wales vs Bosnia & Herzegovina.

UEFA D: Denmark vs North Macedonia & Czechia vs Republic of Ireland.

Inter-confederation 1: DR Congo vs New Caledonia or Jamaica.

Inter-confederation 2: Iraq vs Bolivia or Suriname.

Co-hosts Mexico have automatically be assigned to Group A, with Canada in Group B and the United States in Group D.

Each group can contain a maximum of 1 nation per confederations, excluding Europe that can only have a maximum of 2.

The top 4 ranked nations, Spain, holders Argentina, France and England, will be placed on opposite sides of the bracket "in the interest of ensuring competitive balance". Thus, if all 4 finish first in their respective groups, they would be unable to meet until the semi-finals.