THE red carpet was packed out with celebs, footy stars and wags ahead of the World Cup draw taking place in Doha, Qatar.
Football fans around the world will be on the edge of their seats waiting to find out who their country will be drawn to play in the groups.
Sergio Aguero was in attendance with his partner Sofia Calzetti. Credit: AFP
Star of the screen and big footie fan Idris Elba smiles with wife Sophia Makramati Credit: PA
Dutch legend Clarence Seedorf looked dapper as he attended with wife Sophia Makramati Credit: Getty
Ex-Manchester United striker Diego Forlan looked excited to be there alongside wife Paz Credit: Reuters
England boss Gareth Southgate will be hoping to be as happy once the draw has been made Credit: Getty Unsurprisingly, the draw is a star-studded event in the mega-rich Middle East.
Manchester City legend and recently-retired Sergio Aguero was one of the first to arrive with his partner Sofia Calzetti.
Aguero quit the Beautiful Game in December at the age of 33 in a tearful press conference after being diagnosed with a heart condition.
Former Holland and AC Milan ace Clarence Seedorf looked dapper in his black suit and bow tie, with wife Sophia Makramati.
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England set to find out whether they’ll be in nightmare group with Germany And there were plenty of other big names of the sport turning up, including Brazil’s Kaka and Italian icon Andrea Pirlo.
England boss Gareth Southgate was of course in attendance, ready to find out who his Three Lions will have to get past to reach the knockout stages.
England qualified with flying colours and are one of the top seeds heading into the group stages.
But European champions Italy will NOT be in Qatar, having surprisingly lost 2-1 in their qualifier against North Macedonia.
Aleksandra Ivanova looked radiant ahead of the bog announcement Credit: Getty
Former Argentine footballer Javier Zanetti, his wife Paula, and son Tomas arrive for the draw Credit: AFP
Former players Andrea Pirlo, Javier Mascherano and Jorge Campos arrive Credit: Reuters
Arsene Wenger is there – he wants a World Cup every two years Credit: Getty .css-qu9fel{border-top:1px solid #dcdddd;}.css-b9nmbi{margin-bottom:16px;border-top:1px solid #dcdddd;}
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Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who wants a World Cup every two years, will be an interested spectator for the balls to be drawn.
The stars of the screen were also keen to show their faces at the glitzy bash.
Actor and big footie fan Idris Elba opted for a three-quarter length coat and black sunglasses as he smiled on the red carpet with wife Sabrina Dhowre.
The qualified teams will be placed in four seeding pots, all decided by the new Fifa world rankings list.
As a group we don’t really fear anyone. It’ll show in our performances
England midfielder Jack Grealish
England, fifth in the rankings, join hosts Qatar, new world No1 Brazil, Belgium, France, Argentina, Spain and Portugal in Pot One.
When asked about the World Cup draw earlier this week, England midfielder Jack Grealish said: “As a group we don’t really fear anyone. It’ll show in our performances.
“I think I saw something the other day saying that we haven’t been beat over 90 minutes since November 2020 or something like that.
“So I think, yeah, at the moment we have such a confident group and looking ahead to the draw we’re all going to be excited and we’re not going to fear anyone”
Host Samantha Johnson gets ready for her big evening Credit: Getty Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk