It's all starting to feel very real for the Socceroos.
At noon on Friday (4 a.m. Saturday AEDT) at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C, Australia's men will learn their three group-stage opponents for next year's FIFA World Cup, sorted into one of record 12 groups that will make up an expanded 48-team tournament.
After a chaotic final day of European qualifying, FIFA confirmed that placeholders for the outstanding four UEFA playoffs -- plus the two interconfederation qualifiers -- will go in Pot 4. That means that Tony Popovic's Socceroos have scraped into Pot 2 for the draw -- ostensibly securing an easier group by avoiding the likes of Croatia, Morocco, Colombia and Uruguay.
Each group will consist of one team from each pot, with host nations Mexico, Canada, and the United States placed in Pot 1 and already assigned places in Group A, Group B, and Group D, respectively. Two countries from the same confederation cannot be drawn into the same group -- meaning the Socceroos can't draw an Asian opponent -- with the exception of Europe, which will have two representatives in four of the 12 groups.
This restriction will also be applied to teams within each pathway of the interconfederation playoffs, meaning Australia cannot be drawn to face Bolivia or Suriname, as they're in the same pathway as Asian side Iraq.
So, what scenarios are in play? ESPN has taken a look at some of the juicier potential Socceroos groupings.
Group of Death: Argentina, Australia, Norway, Italy
A pretty simple one, really. Working backwards, with Italy ostensibly the strongest possible opponent that could be drawn from Pot 4 -- should the Azzurri actually get their act together and emerge from the European playoffs -- it's easy to slot them in. Norway, the nation that condemned Italy to the playoffs and whose Erling Haaland-led attack scored an ungodly amount of goals in qualifying, both look the strongest side in Pot 3 and are its highest-ranked, so they get the nod there.
With two European slots filled, that means that only a North American or South American side could be drawn from Pot 1, and the highest-ranked of those potential foes is the defending world champions, who, beyond their pedigree, will be boisterously supported by Argentines and bandwagoners alike in Lionel Messi's World Cup swansong.
Group of Life: Mexico, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand
Hear me out. While Canada is the lowest-ranked side in Pot 1 and ostensibly would be the preferred opponent of all 36 nations in Pots 2, 3, and 4, Mexico are in something of an alarming form skid right now, not having won a single game since they lifted the Gold Cup back in July. And while playing Mexico in Mexico at a World Cup is never ideal, there might be some cracks there, too, especially if they fail to win the opening game of the tournament against what, in this scenario, would be South Africa at the Estadio Azteca. El Tri were serenaded by boos amid a 0-0 draw with Uruguay in Torreón last month -- a Uruguay that would go on to lose 5-1 to the United States just a few days later -- which led to star striker Raúl Jiménez suggesting that the reception was why the team plays most of their games north of the border.
The lowest-ranked side in Pot 3, Bafana Bafana are the statistically simplest foes that the Socceroos could draw -- with the next three lowest-ranked sides in that pot, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Uzbekistan, all coming from Asia and thus ineligible to be drawn in Australia's group -- while the presence of CONCACAF side Mexico would mean that the All Whites, who the Socceroos beat twice in September, would be the lowest-ranked eligible foes in Pot 4.
Not you again: France, Australia, Tunisia, Denmark
Yes, after Scotland's heroics on the final day of European qualifying, it's actually possible for the Socceroos to draw the exact same group they got four years ago in Qatar, as well as Les Bleus and De Rød-Hvide for the third-straight tournament. Cue "I Got You Babe" by Sonny and Cher.
In this scenario, Didier Deschamps' side would serve as the Pot 1 opponents, while the Eagles of Carthage would be drawn from Pot 3.
After being condemned to the European playoffs by the Scots, the Danes -- who will need to progress past North Macedonia and then either Czechia or the Republic of Ireland -- would be drawn from Pot 4.
The Rugby World Cup: England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand
Even discounting the possible footballing possibilities attached to it, the narratives, vibes, and possible banter that could arise from this draw probably make it close to the ideal one for fans of the Socceroos.
To start with, a potential win over England, three years on from the Lionesses knocking the Matildas out in the semifinals of their home 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, would arguably represent not just the biggest in the history of Australian men's football, but Australian sport in general. And in Popovic, the Socceroos would be led by someone who not only played in their 3-1 upset win over England back at Upton Park in 2003 but who opened the scoring in that fixture.
South Africa and New Zealand, meanwhile, would bring to life rugby's Tri-Nations Series on a football pitch. What's more, all three nations would feel like they would be genuine contenders to knock off their opponents with the round ball and advance to the knockout stages.
There are a few variations of this group, as well. One could swap out England for Argentina in Pot 1 to bring a bit of a Los Pumas feel, which would then require Scotland to replace South Africa from Pot 3, or switching out New Zealand for the Republic of Ireland or Italy (if they progress through the UEFA playoffs) in Pot 4.
The Understated: United States, Australia, Scotland, DR Congo
What do we mean by understated? In this case, it's a group that would probably be greeted with some level of relief by Socceroos fans, given the absence of giant names, but which would actually present a significant challenge. in defeating Australia 2-1 in October, for instance, the United States look as though they've turned a corner in recent months, capped off by that hammering of Uruguay in Tampa last month. It's form that has their coach Mauricio Pochettino feeling bullish in the lead up to a home World Cup, declaring that his side needed to "think big" and set its sights on winning the tournament.
The Scots, meanwhile, may be ending a 28-year absence from the World Cup, but they did top their group in European qualifying, losing just a single game, and in the likes of Andrew Robertson, Billy Gilmour (if he recovers well from groin surgery), and Scott McTominay, they possess talent belying their status as a Pot 3 team.
DR Congo, for their part, knocked off perennial World Cup qualifiers Cameroon and Nigeria in progressing to a FIFA intercontinental playoff and, like the Scots, possess a squad full of talented players such as Cédric Bakambu and Aaron Wan-Bissaka that belies their 52-year absence from the World Cup (their 1974 appearance -- the first Sub-Saharan African team to qualify for the World Cup -- came as Zaïre).
The most likely: Brazil, Australia, South Africa, Denmark
But what's the most likely, according to the computers? Well, one helpful internet boffin simulated the draw 50,000 times based on the various constraints that will govern the process to provide some insights. And though some of the margins between the various possibilities are very small, it's better than nothing.
In these simulations, Brazil just shaded Argentina for the most likely Pot 1 opponent, with Paraguay the most likely foe from Pot 3. Given that two South American sides can't be in the same group, however, that means that the next most likely Pot 3 opponent, South Africa, would step up.
And as every group must have a European side in it, this scenario would then demand that one of the UEFA playoff winners be the final side added to the group, with the simulations suggesting that playoff path D is the most likely by the slimmest of margins, of which the 21st-ranked Danes are the highest-ranked.