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Next summer's World Cup is finally starting to feel very real. While supporters can finally start marking their calendars, Friday's ceremony in Washington DC was not short of major talking points.

Well before the Village People performed with their classic hit, we were left analyzing a group stage featuring a showdown between football's top strikers and a playoff bracket promising a highly anticipated encounter between legends of the game.

The Draw That Seemed Like It May Never End

Numerous viewers tuned in eager to find out their national side's initial opponents. However, even though fans are accustomed to these draws taking some time, this was extraordinary.

Following performances by a pop star and Nicole Scherzinger, speeches from dignitaries and Fifa officials, plus numerous video packages and discussions, it finally seemed to get going almost 60 minutes later. Or so we thought.

Cue further commentary and entertainment, before the actual draw eventually began around 90 minutes after the star-studded show initially started. The selection then required almost an hour to finish.

On to the Football Itself...

The upcoming World Cup will be the biggest in the competition's history, with a unprecedented number of nations and a first-ever additional knockout round. Yet, this increase in size has maybe resulted in the group stage being slightly diluted in quality.

There are very few fixtures between the major nations. The Three Lions' match with their 2018 semi-final opponents is the most significant theoretically. That is the sole opening-round game with two teams inside the world's elite.

The Selecao versus Morocco is the next best. The Dutch have the toughest group by Fifa world rankings, while Germany—grouped with Ecuador, Ivory Coast and Curacao—have the easiest on paper. Nevertheless, interesting matches remain.

A Pair of Prolific Scorers Face Off

Phenomenal striker Norway's star will get a crack at his major international competition next summer. The Manchester City forward scored 16 times in eight matches to single-handedly carry his nation to their initial berth since 1998.

Hardly any have been able to come close to the youngster's ridiculous goalscoring feats—but someone who has is scheduled to face him in the final round of the group stage. Along with Senegal, Norway have been drawn against Kylian Mbappe's Les Bleus.

This means the leading scorers in the Premier League and Spain's division will go head-to-head for the first time in international football. Expect net-bulgers. Lots of goals.

A Familiar Foe

El Tri will take on South Africa in the opening match—and not for the first time. The sides also kicked off the 2010 edition. That match, ending 1-1, is best remembered for a rasping goal.

Another notable group game will see France again come up against Senegal, who shocked the then-world champions back in 2002. On that first day, a then-unknown player upstaged France's cast of star names to score the decisive goal.

Dream Ties for the Debutants

Uzbekistan, Cape Verde, Jordan and Curacao have taken advantage of the expanded World Cup to reach the finals for the first occasion. However, standing in their way are former world champions, European champions and South American champions.

In one group, Curacao, the smallest nation to ever feature in a World Cup, will take on four-time winners Die Mannschaft. The island nation, with a resident count of around 600,000, will face Euro winners and 2010 World Cup winners Spain.

Jordan, after 40 years of trying, meets title-holders La Albiceleste and Lionel Messi. Meanwhile, The Central Asian team will be guided by a 2006 World Cup winner against the Portuguese icon's Portugal.

What About the Playoff Rounds?

Assuming all the favorites progress from their groups, fans may not wait long for the big hitters to meet. The last 16 is where things could get really tasty, most notably with a possible matchup between past winners Germany and France.

On the other side of the bracket, eyes will be fixed on the quarter-final stage, where old rivals the Argentine and Ronaldo are lined up for a possible clash. It would depend on both Messi's team and Portugal winning their groups and squeezing through the early knockout rounds.

Regarding the Three Lions, a game against co-hosts Mexico seems the probable first knockout game. Should Scotland are able to get through, Japan or the Dutch could be waiting in what would be their historic World Cup knockout fixture.