Photos : World cup 2018 draw, Vladimir Putin has opened the World Cup draw ceremony at the State Kremlin Palace

The Latest on the World Cup draw

Here are the groups for the World Cup:

Group A — Russia, Uruguay, Egypt, Saudi Arabia

Group B — Portugal, Spain, Iran, Morocco

Group C — France, Peru, Denmark, Australia

Group D — Argentina, Croatia, Iceland, Nigeria

Group E — Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia

Group F — Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea

Group G — Belgium, England, Tunisia, Panama

Group H — Poland, Colombia, Senegal, Japan

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko says “there is no proof” of a state backed doping system in the country, despite an Olympic judging panel this week detailing why it believed there was an organized conspiracy at the 2014 Sochi Games.

Mutko gave a defiant answer of about 12 minutes when asked if the soccer World Cup could be affected by an International Olympic Committee decision on Tuesday which could ban Russia from the Pyeongchang Games in February.

Mutko, who is the head of the World Cup organizing committee, says “we hope common sense will prevail.”

He also insisted the IOC “cannot dictate” what positions individual people hold in member countries.

In July 2016, the IOC banned Mutko, then Russia’s sports minister, from attending the Rio de Janeiro Olympics when a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation detailed orchestrated cheating at the Sochi Games.

Mutko was further implicated this week when extracts were published from the diaries of the former director of Russia’s anti-doping laboratories. The IOC judging panel said it believed the diaries were “significant” evidence.

Joining Mutko at a news conference on Friday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino says he is “very relaxed” about next week’s IOC executive board meeting.

Russia will play the opening game on June 14. The final will be held on July 15.

Panama will make its World Cup debut against Belgium in Sochi on June 18.

The Central American team advanced ahead of the United States in its qualifying group Russia will play Saudi Arabia in the opening game of next year’s World Cup, a match between the lowest ranked teams in the FIFA rankings.

The Group A match will take place on June 14 at the 81,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

Also in the group are Uruguay and Egypt.

Russia goes into its home World Cup ranked 65th in the world, the lowest-ranked of any of the 32 teams in the tournament. Saudi Arabia is 63rd.

Iceland’s debut at the World Cup will be against Lionel Messi and Argentina.

The smallest nation ever play at the World Cup will play the two-time champions on June 16 at Spartak Stadium in Moscow.

Iceland, with a population of 330,000 people, won its qualifying group after reaching the quarterfinals at the 2016 European Championship.

Vladimir Putin has formally opened the World Cup draw ceremony at the State Kremlin Palace.

The Russian president made a five-minute speech after arriving on stage with FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

Putin urged people to visit and enjoy a country “so big and multi-faceted.”

“We will do everything to make it a major sporting festival,” he said, looking forward to a World Cup of “friendship and fair play, values that do not change with time.”

FIFA President Giannni Infantino says he will not speculate on allegations in an American federal court linking 2022 World Cup host Qatar to payments received by South American soccer officials.

Infantino says he will not comment on “things that are not proven.”

Witnesses in the trial of a former FIFA vice president and two other former soccer federation presidents from South America have provided details of irregular payments and offers of payment from Qatari officials. The three defendants deny wrongdoing.

Infantino also cautioned against western nations who try to “paint with a dark paint, everything that comes from the east Russia or the Arab world.”

The Swiss official says there is a tendency for the west to think “we are the best ones ... we know how democracy works.”

Infantino says he hopes the World Cup “will change the way the world looks at Russia.”