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2026 Fifa World Cup draw
Date: Friday, 5 December Time: 17:00 GMT Venue: Kennedy Center, Washington DC
Coverage: Watch live on BBC & iPlayer, listen on BBC Radio 5 Live & Sounds, follow text updates, reaction and analysis on BBC Sport website & app
With Franz Beckenbauer cast in the role of glamorous assistant, Sepp Blatter, secretary general of Fifa, revealed the first non-seeded country out of the bowl at the draw for the 1998 World Cup - Scotland.
Into Pool A with Brazil they went - and on went the draw. Not much messing about in 1998. Looking at it now, in a time of endless preamble and an on-stage banterfest that would test the patience of a saint, they moved at breakneck speed back then.
It took just over 25 minutes before Scotland knew their fate, not just that they would be playing Brazil in the opening game in Paris on 10 June, but that they would be playing Norway in Bordeaux in their second game six days later and Morocco in Saint-Etienne in their third seven days after that.
Barry Davies gave out the dates matter-of-factly on telly. Seven minutes later, Blatter started wrapping up. From first nation to last, the entire thing lasted just over 31 minutes. Groups, games, venues, timings, the lot.
When the latest World Cup draw show begins on Friday at 17:00 GMT, it'll take a little longer. Presidents Trump, as in Donald, and Mulraney, as in Mike of the Scottish FA, will be there along with, among others, Robbie Williams and the Village People. Prepare for grown men doing the YMCA at some point. Prepare to feel nauseous.
Prepare, also, for Fifa announcing that the draw has surpassed the previous record television audience of, they say, 2.7bn last time around. This is bigger than big. Bigly, some might say.
We'll know who plays who after a few hours but it will be another day before we know it all - all of the dates, the cities, the kick-off times, ranging from, in BST, 17:00, 20:00, 23:00 and 02:00.
In a process of unending complexity there is a sliver of simplicity at the heart of it. If Scotland draw a host nation - USA, Canada or Mexico - they will not have to wait until Saturday to get a full picture of what awaits them next summer. It'll all be revealed on the night.
If they're drawn with Mexico then, like in France '98, Scotland will play in the opening game of the tournament against the Mexicans on 11 June at the Azteca Stadium. Their other two games will be in Atlanta on 18 June against whatever pot four team they're pitched in with and in Guadalupe on 24 June against their pot two rival.
If it's Canada they're drawn with then Scotland will play their opener in San Francisco on 13 June against their pot two rival, then they'll face Canada in Vancouver on 18 June followed by a move to Seattle to face their pot four foe.
If it's the USA they're drawn with then it's America versus Scotland on 12 June in California followed by games against sides from pot four and pot two and both of those will be in San Francisco. If you're going, then never mind the flowers in your hair. Just focus on the fury in your fingertips as you book flights and accommodation online.
And steel yourself. This is not just going to be the most enormous World Cup in terms of nations involved or games played or miles to travel or attendances or revenues heading with indecent haste into Fifa coffers - it's also going to be eye-wateringly, gob-smackingly, wince-inducingly expensive to get there, to stay there, to eat, to drink, to actually watch a game, if you're rich enough or connected enough to be able to get a ticket.
If a draw against a host nation is not to be for Steve Clarke's team then it will be Saturday before every cough and splutter of World Cup 2026 is unveiled. It took less than half-an-hour last time Scotland were involved. This time it could be 24 hours. Ah, the beautiful game.
So all eyes, then, on the Kennedy Center in Washington DC for an end to the game we've all been playing since Kenny McLean scored the goal that was heard around the world against Denmark at Hampden last month - Scottish football's moon landing with that ball spending almost as much time in space as Apollo 11.
The game of best-case and worst-case scenario has been fun. Each group can have two Uefa teams at most but only one from the other five confederations. Best-case: USA, Australia, Cape Verde. Worst-case: England (how dreary to travel so far to play the nation next door), Morocco and Jordan.
Everybody will have their own take on that. Glamour or not in pot one? Scotland have only ever played Argentina four times in their history, all friendlies. Lionel Messi or something more manageable from the top seeds? Games on the east coast, the west coast or central? The joys, the joys.
The devoted out there will have sussed out the danger nations from South America (beyond the obvious) and the ones to avoid from Africa. Curacao from CONCACAF have been talked about, almost certainly for the first time ever in Scottish football history. Curacao are coached by former Rangers manager, Dick Advocaat.
Part of the majesty of being involved in this are the conversations down the pub - clued-up football folk wondering if it's best to get Haiti from pot four because Haiti are on Trump's banned list and none of their fans will be allowed into America to support their team, which might mean more tickets for the Tartan Army.
Scotland fans will travel, no matter what. Tickets or no tickets, you will find them there - wherever there happens to be. Beating Denmark in one of the greatest nights in the history of the national team - arguably, the greatest - was part one of the adventure and now it's time for part two.
It'll be long and tiresome in Washington on Friday, it's got all the potential to be gaudy and embarrassing, uneasy on the eyes and the ears.
But it's a promised land of sorts, it's where Scotland have longed to be for close to 30 years. A place at the top table at last. A first World Cup for the youth of the nation to enjoy - and for the older ones, a return to a place they may have doubted they'd ever return to. This is not a dream. It's really happening, folks.
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