This morning at the Kremlin in Moscow, FIFA held its draw for the 2018 World Cup. Thirty-two teams from the five regional confederations were drawn into eight groups to determine the matches for the first round of competition when the tournament kicks off in June.
Before we jump into the groups, let's take a look at how they came to be. All 32 teams were divided into four pots, with Pot 1 occupied by the hosts Russia and the top seven teams in the world. The other three pots are organized into similar tiers based on rank, with confederation balance also taken into account during the draw.