World Cup 2018 Preliminary Draw: Date, Time, Qualifying Format and More

Five of the six confederations set to compete at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia will learn their fate on Saturday, July 25. The preliminary draw will take place at Saint Petersburg's magnificent Konstantin Palace, per the official site of world football's governing body, FIFA.

This important first draw will take place at 4 p.m. (BST) and 11 a.m. (ET).

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Procedure

For European confederation UEFA, teams will go into "seven groups of six teams and two groups of five teams according to the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking of July 2015, with each team playing each other home and away between 4 September 2016 and 10 October 2017."

UEFA has reportedly made a request for nations such as World Cup holders Germany, England, France, Spain and Italy to each be put into six-team groups.

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Naturally, hosts Russia are exempt from this draw. Automatic qualification will be the reward for each group winner.

But the play-offs await the eight most successful second-placed nations. FIFA's official site states those sudden-death fixtures will be played in November 2017.

African teams will have to endure a more drawn-out process. It begins with 26 low-ranked teams facing off in two groups of 13. The winners join a second group comprised of 27 higher-ranked nations.

A series of two-legged play-off games will follow before "five groups of four teams will meet both home and away. The winner of each group will qualify for Russia 2018."

The CONCACAF nations will be drawn together in the third round of their qualification process, composed of five two-legged ties. Heavyweights such as Mexico and the U.S. await the winners of those fixtures in Round 4.

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Then they'll be three groups and those matches will play out between November 2015 and September 2016, with exact dates decided by the preliminary draw. A fifth round will follow.

Things are much simpler for the South American countries. Teams from 10 nations will be put together in one group. The order of play will be revealed in the draw.

Yet there is a caveat designed to ensure favorites such as Brazil and Argentina, who've combined for seven World Cup wins, don't have an advantage: "To ensure that no team has to play both Argentina and Brazil on any double matchday, these teams have been seeded and automatically positioned as Team 4 and Team 5 respectively."

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Four teams from the top of the group will qualify automatically, with the nation that finishes fifth entering an inter-confederation play-off.

Oceania teams will play over three rounds, with low-ranked nations going through a special tournament to begin the process.

How the Draw Will be Made

There are more than a few star names and controversial figures set to be involved in the live draw, but Brazil international Hulk will not be among them.

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The 28-year-old recently voiced his concern about how he experienced racism "in almost every game" in Russian football, but had been expected to join a list of the sport's luminaries to make the draw, according to a Press Association report (h/t Daily Mail).

However, Sky News' sports correspondent Paul Kelso noted the Zenit striker has been replaced at the draw by former Russia international Alexei Smertin.

One figure present sure to generate controversy is FIFA president Sepp Blatter. The man who is set to step down amid the corruption scandal throttling world football's governing body will be in attendance.

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Earlier this month, Blatter's presence had been confirmed by Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko during an interview with Sports Express (h/t Reuters, via the Guardian): “Sepp will be coming. He confirmed this to me yesterday. He will also meet with the president of Russia.”

Blatter was a key mover in Russia's successful bid to host a World Cup. Given his current situation, the presence of the Swiss at Konstantin Palace is sure to raise a disapproving eyebrow or two.

As for the draw itself, holders Germany will be one of the main names to watch. So too will beaten finalists Argentina.

It will also be interesting to see what level of competition Brazil, humiliated on their own soil by Germany at the semi-final stage in 2014, are set for the qualifying phase.

A lot of eyes will surely be on manager Dunga's bid to return the most successful nation in this tournament back to relevance and end Europe's recent dominance.