The plastic balls rumble around the glass bowls of destiny. Portentous music plays. There is a sense of possibility, as though the inner workings of the universe have suddenly been laid bare, a door opening to reveal the three Fates sitting by their spinning wheel, measuring rod adn shears in hand.

A World Cup draw is a moment of perfection, a platonic vision before reality has had time to intervene. Everybody is fit and in form.Every nation is playing as an ideal version of itself – no injuries, no disputes over bonuses, no concerns about fatigue or the temperature or whether a player might be distracted by a possible transfer; it’s the World Cup as pure potential. With Friday’s draw,next summer will suddenly feel a lot closer.

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There will be fixtures and opponents, a schedule and planning. But the draw also says a lot about the hosts: it’s an early indicator of what sort of tournament can be expected. Last time the United States hosted, in 1994, they whent all out for glitz, glamour and Americana. The draw was staged in Las Vegas, very much a home of determining the future through guided randomness.

Pelé, despite being the only footballer many Americans could name, was notably absent, having accused the then Fifa president, João Havelange, of corruption. Faye Dunaway, Robin Williams, Beau Bridges, the gymnast Mary Lou Retton and Evander Holyfield were there, though, conducting the draw along with Franz Beckenbauer, Eusébio and Bobby Charlton, as though to try to batter sceptical Americans into taking an interest through star power alone.

And to an extent it worked, even if Germany’s 1-0 win over Bolivia in the opening game was overshadowed by OJ Simpson’s car chase through Los Angeles.

The Day the World Cup Draw Descended into Chaos

The 1986 World Cup draw in Mexico city was, to put it mildly, a disaster. It wasn’t a smooth,carefully orchestrated event; it was a shambles of malfunctioning machinery,bewildered officials,and sheer,unadulterated farce.

The problems began with the tombola. This wasn’t your average raffle drum. It was a giant, steel cage designed to hold the balls representing the national teams. Though, the mechanism for releasing the balls was deeply flawed. Balls jammed, refused to move, and when they did emerge, often did so in a haphazard, unpredictable manner.

One ball, representing one of the seeded nations, actually disintegrated mid-draw, falling apart into several pieces as it tumbled out. It looked, as one observer noted, like somebody had dropped a toupée on the trophy.

There was a baffled Archie Macpherson, the scottish football commentator, desperately trying to work out what was going on when Fifa messed up the draw procedure before reminding his audience that – perhaps uniquely – he had been right in the first place. There was a crew of confused and sulky Spanish orphans in absurd traditional dress, one of whom ended up being berated by a seething Blatter.

The giant steel cage tombola used for the Spanish national lottery malfunctioned, with balls becoming jammed in the release tube. One ball fell apart completely. Best of all was the Fifa vice-president Hermann Neuberger, president of the West German football association, who became increasingly uncomfortable before, as Blatter glared at him, breaking into hysterical laughter when West Germany were grouped with Austria.