⚽ Draw begins in Washington DC at 5pm GMT / 12pm local⚽ Draw explainer | Qualifiers | Follow on Bluesky | Mail JohnWe will soon know who landed a "group of death”, though third place qualification from groups does rather reduce the deadliness. Will Unwin has been pruning his permutations.David Hytner hopes the draw can be about the football. Let’s hope so, too.It can sound corny when players and managers talk about fulfilling childhood dreams at the World Cup. But the emotion during qualification has been real. The scenes, for example, when Scotland secured their first spot at a finals since France 98 with the epic Hampden Park victory over Denmark will live for ever. And how about when Cape Verde got there with the home win over Eswatini? Africa had five places for Qatar 22. They now have a guaranteed nine. It will be 10 if the Democratic Republic of the Congo win their playoff final against New Caledonia or Jamaica. Continue reading... ...read more read less