Right in the heart of the Russian seat of power at the Kremlin, the 32 sides vying for World Cup glory next summer discovered their fate as the group draw was made this afternoon.
Who can look forward to next summer with optimism and who awaits the group stage with trepidation?
The Independent's Miguel Delaney joined us live from the Kremlin to run the rule over the draw including England who have got a relatively kind draw in the shape of Tunisia and tournament debutantes Panama as well as a tough Belgian side.
"Almost the main take away was that it's an underwhelming group stage because of the lack of heavyweight teams playing each other," said Miguel of the eight groups which don't contain a true Group of Death.
"But the flipside is hopefully we could be in for a top heavy latter stages with a lot of big matches."
Here they are! The groups for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia! 🇷🇺🙌
Which game are you most looking forward to?! ðŸ˜#WorldCupDraw pic.twitter.com/CYBTaqkgpF
— #WorldCupDraw 🆠(@FIFAWorldCup) December 1, 2017
On the point made by England manager Gareth Southgate about the gap between international sides not being huge, Miguel also discussed the point that an organised mid or lower team nation could prosper by being better than the sum of its parts.
And he's also glad that the Group B fixture list has thrown up the Spain vs Portugal game up first rather than last, meaning both sides will have to take the match seriously rather than potentially meeting when they could both be through.
"That does really stand out, bar Belgium v England," said Miguel of that match-up.
Miguel also discussed the atmosphere in Moscow in and around the draw ceremony.
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