Russia 2018 Qualifiers: the 20 facts you must know about Saturday's draw in Saint Petersburg.
1. The draw will take place this Saturday, July 25, at the Constantino Palace, about 30 kilometers from the center of San Petersburg, Russia.
2. It will start at 10:00 am, Colombian time. It will last two hours.
3. In Colombia, it can be watched live on Caracol TV and DirecTV Sports.
4. The event will be broadcasted in 164 countries, reaching a global audience of 94.8 million people.
5. The presenters of the event will be Russian model Natalia Vodianova and TV presenter Dmitry Shepelev.
6. It will be hosted by FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke.
7. The South American representatives are Ronaldo (former Brazilian forward) and Diego Forlán (Uruguayan attacker).
8. The first item on the agenda will be the draw for the four intercontinental playoffs.
9. After that, it will be known if the fifth team from the South American Qualifiers will face a team from Asia, Oceania, or Concacaf in the playoff.
10. The only confederation not participating in the draw is Asia, whose qualification has been underway since March 2015.
11. World Cup spots for Russia 2018 by continents: Africa (5 direct), Europe (14: 13 through qualification plus Russia), Concacaf (3 direct and 1 playoff), Oceania (1 playoff), Asia (4 direct and 1 playoff), and South America (4 direct and 1 playoff).
12. The South American Qualifiers will maintain the same format: round-robin, home and away matches for 18 rounds. That is, each of the 10 teams will play 9 home matches and 9 away matches.
13. What changes in South America is the fixture (order of matches), which will be defined this Saturday in Russia.
14. Another change is that in each double matchday, teams will play one home match and one away match (not two home matches or two away matches). The new schedule includes four matchdays in 2015, six in 2016, and eight in 2017.
15. Argentina and Brazil will be seeded so that none of the other eight teams face them consecutively in the double rounds.
16. If Colombia draws ball 2, they will debut at home against Brazil and play away against Brazil in round 18.
17. If Colombia draws ball 6, they will debut in Buenos Aires against Argentina and close in Barranquilla against Argentina in round 18.
18. The only confirmed matches are Argentina vs. Brazil in round 3 and Brazil vs. Argentina in matchday 11.
19. In the qualifiers for Russia 2018, a total of 851 matches will be played worldwide.
20. The preliminary competition for the World Cup will last two years and eight months. The qualifiers started on March 12, 2015, and will end in November 2017.
