Everything you need to know about the 2019 Women's World Cup draw

Here theScore runs down everything you need to know ahead of Saturday's group stage draw for next summer's Women's World Cup in France.

The draw

• When: Saturday, Dec. 8 (12 p.m. ET)
• Where: La Seine Musicale in Paris, France
• Watch: Livestream on FIFA.com; Fox Sports 2, Telemundo, Universo (U.S.); TSN 4 and 5 (Canada)

Draw procedure

The opening stage of next summer's spectacle will see 24 hopeful nations compete across six groups from A to F. Those groups will be comprised of one country from each of the draw's four pots, which were (finally) determined Friday morning after the release of the latest FIFA Women's World Ranking.

Host nation France automatically assumes the first spot in Group A and cannot be drawn in the same quartet as the other five heavyweights in Pot 1: the United States, Germany, England, Canada, and Australia.

Here's how the remaining pots shape up:

Pot 2: Netherlands, Japan, Sweden, Brazil, Spain, Norway

Pot 3: South Korea, China, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, Thailand

Pot 4: Argentina, Chile, Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa, Jamaica

Aside from UEFA, which is sending nine teams to the competition, no confederation can have more than one team in each group.

The tournament will be played across nine venues in France. It begins June 7 with the final slated for July 7.

Personnel

The draw will be conducted by former England international Alex Scott, who won 140 caps with the Lionesses during her storied career. She'll be joined on the stage by well-traveled French striker Louis Saha, who featured at the 2006 World Cup for Les Bleus during his playing days.

The legends chosen to assist with the draw are:

• Didier Deschamps (World Cup winner as both a player and manager)
• Marie Bochet (Eight-time Paralympic gold medalist in skiing)
• Kaka (2002 World Cup winner with Brazil, 2007 Ballon d'Or winner)
• Cindy Parlow Cone (1999 Women's World Cup winner)
• Michael Essien (Two-time Premier League winner with Chelsea)
• Aya Miyama (2011 Women’s World Cup winner with Japan)
• Steffi Jones (2003 Women's World Cup winner with Germany)

What to watch

Rivalry renewed: After meeting in the last two Women's World Cup finals, the United States and Japan could find themselves in the same group for next summer's tournament; the Americans head to France as reigning champions and one of the top seeds while Japan finds itself in Pot 2.

New faces: Four nations will be making their Women's World Cup debuts next summer with Chile, Jamaica, Scotland, and South Africa competing in the competition for the first time. No debutant has ever won a knockout-stage match in the history of the tournament. Will that finally change?

Favorable path: With 16 of the 24 teams advancing out of the groups - the four best third-placed teams will join the group winners and runners-up - the path through the knockout stage will be unbalanced. The makeup of the bracket means every team from Pot 1 (aside from France, who are predetermined to be in Group A) will be hoping to land in Group D, which, at least on paper, looks to offer the easiest route to the final.