The World Cup will get underway in Russia on June 14 and 32 teams will battle to lift the trophy on July 15 at the Luzhniki Stadium. With just under 250 days to go, here is all you need to know about the biggest contest in world football.
After the latest round of qualifiers, and with the World Cup just eight months away, the line-up for the tournament is almost complete. With hosts Russia qualifying automatically, 31 places were initially up for grabs. 23 have already been secured.
England, Germany, Belgium, Iceland, Poland, Serbia, Spain, France and Portugal are Europe's representatives so far, while another eight teams in the continent will compete in the play-offs for four places in Russia.
Five-time winners Brazil breezed through qualification, sealing the deal back in March, and are firm candidates to take the trophy home. They will be joined by fellow South Americans Uruguay, Colombia and Argentina, and Peru could make it if they beat New Zealand in the play-offs.
Elsewhere, Costa Rica, Egypt, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Panama have secured their spots in the World Cup, with the final round of matches yet to take place in Africa.
Australia and Honduras will also vie for a place in the competition in the play-offs, which will be two-legged ties taking place between November 9 and 14. Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Sweden,Greece, Italy, Denmark, Croatia and Switzerland are the eight European play-off sides. The latter four are seeded into one pot and drawn against the remaining four teams.
Four-time winners Italy will risk their place in Russia in the play-offs while the likes of Argentina or Portugal left it late to secure their qualification. Big names such as Chile, Wales, the Netherlands, Austria, Cameroon, Ghana, Turkey or the USA will be watching from home.
The North Americans missed out on qualification for the first time since 1986 after Panama scored a late winner to make their debut in the competition. They will be joined by first-timers Iceland, who topped a complicated group which included Croatia and Ukraine.
Over the course of a month, the 32 teams will look to be crowned world champions, with the round of 16 matches getting underway on June 30, the quarter-finals on July 6 and 7 and the semi-finals on July 10 and 11.
12 venues spanning from Ekaterinburg the furthest east and Kaliningrad the furthest west will witness fixtures kicking off at 3pm, 6pm and 9pm Moscow time, or 1pm, 4pm and 7pm UK time. Germany (11/2), France (11/2) and Brazil (13/2) are the favourites to be crowned world champions.