What Time is the Draw for World Cup 2014 in Brazil?

This Friday the national soccer teams for United States and Mexico will learn the most important things they need to know at next summer's 2014 World Cup in Brazil:

Their first-round opponents and where they will play them.

The final draw for the 20th World Cup will be staged Dec. 6 at Costa do Sauipe in the State of Bahia, and it will be televised live and online in more than 180 nations, according to Fédération Internationale de Football Association, organizers of the quadrennial tournament since 1930.

The draw show is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. Pacific Time, and in Southern California it's expected to air live on ESPN2 and Univision. Multiple online sites will cover the draw live, including www.fifa.com.

Organizers with FIFA announced the draw format and separated the 32 qualified nations into four pots, with the top seeds first, on Tuesday Dec. 3. The teams will be drawn Friday into eight groups, with venues and scheduling for the tournament's first-round competition.

Pot 1: Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Uruguay, Switzerland

Pot 2: Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Algeria, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chile, Ecuador

Pot 3: Japan, Iran, South Korea, Australia, United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Honduras

Pot 4: Bosnia, Croatia, England, Greece, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Russia, France

You can simulate the draw at this interactive page: http://ultra-zone.net/2014-FIFA-World-Cup-Group-Stage-Draws.

"The 2014 World Cup field is arguably the strongest in history," former U.S. coach Bruce Arena said in a column published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times.

"In my view, the U.S. needs to avoid landing in a group with Spain, Brazil, Argentina and Germany, and draw only one European country in their group and hopefully dodge playing the Netherlands and Italy, as well," Arena said.

Arena led the U.S. to the quarterfinals at South Korea-Japan 2002, and finished last in group play at Germany 2006.

Mexico qualified for Brazil 2014 by defeating New Zealand in a two-legged playoff in November. El Tri made the playoffs because the United States scored two late goals to defeat Panama on Oct. 15. The next day newspaper headlines in Mexico screamed "Thank You, USA!" and "We Love You! AMIGOUS."

The Mexican Football Federation on Monday Dec. 2 confirmed Miguel "Piojo" Herrera, who led El Tri to their 9-3 aggregate victory over New Zealand, will coach the national team at Brazil 2014.

England coach Roy Hodgson says he is more concerned about where his team will play than what teams they'll face.

"Given the vast distances between host cities and the huge disparity in temperatures and humidity between Porto Alegre in the south and the Amazonian city of Manaus in the north, the logistics and conditions will be testing," The Guardian reported.

Brazil covers a total area of more than 3.2 million square miles. It is the largest country in South America, and the fifth largest in the world, in area and population, which is estimated more than 201 million.

For a map of the venues for Brazil 2014 click here.

Brazil 2014, scheduled June 12 to July 13, will be the 20th World Cup staged since the inaugural tournament, Uruguay 1930. Brazil is the only nation to appear at every World Cup, and they have won it five times.

Winners and hosts:

1930 - Uruguay (host)

1934 - Italy (host)

1938 - Italy (France)

1950 - Uruguay (Brazil)

1954 - West Germany (Switzerland)

1958 - Brazil (Sweden)

1962 - Brazil (Chile)

1966 - England (host)

1970 - Brazil (Mexico)

1974 - West Germany (host)

1978 - Argentina (host)

1982 - Italy (Spain)

1986 - Argentina (Mexico)

1990 - West Germany (Italy)

1994 - Brazil (US)

1998 - France (host)

2002 - Brazil (South Korea-Japan)

2006 - Italy (Germany)

2010 - Spain (South Africa)

South American nations, in spite of far fewer qualifying spots over the decades, have won nine of the 19 tournaments so far. European nations, led by four-time winners Italy, have won the World Cup 10 times.