After reaching the finals of the World Cup, 32 coaches will find out at Saturday's draw where, and against whom, they will begin their final assault on soccer's biggest prize.

"This is a historic moment for Japan and Korea and for all the countries involved," said Philippe Troussier, coach of Japan's national team.

Soccer luminaries Pele, Johan Cruyff and Michel Platini will be among the celebrities dividing the 32 teams into eight groups of four for next year's Cup.

FIFA, soccer's governing body, already has picked the eight seeds and set up three categories for the other teams to try to keep the competition roughly equal.

Still, luck will determine if a group gets powerful England or modest Ireland; gutsy Mexico or first-timer Senegal.

"I would prefer not to have England again in Germany's group," said German coach Rudi Voeller. And with good reason -- England pounded Germany 5-1 in the qualifiers and forced the three-time Cup champions into a playoff with the Ukraine for a berth.

Not that Voeller wants to face pushovers. A Cup champion as a player in 1990, he recalls how Germany took off after a difficult first round.

"Two tough matches in the group would be good, then the team could really warm up," he said. "In 1990 we had two strong rivals in Yugoslavia and Colombia, and it was in those matches that we laid the foundation for our triumph."

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson has his own list of teams to avoid.

"France, Italy and Argentina are the favorites, so I would just appreciate it if they weren't in our group," he said.

As co-hosts and group leaders, Japan and South Korea already have dodged a bullet. They won't face the other seeded nations -- defending champion France, Brazil, Argentina, Italy, Germany and Spain -- in the first round.

Troussier thinks the Cup champion could likely emerge from that bunch.

"The favorite? I think of course France," he said. "They have proved it in the past, and the past two years have not been easy. Argentina has a good dynamic, and so do [England] and Spain."

Four-time Cup champion Brazil, which barely qualified after its worst campaign in history, is looking for a breather in the first round.

"I wouldn't like to face Portugal in the first round," said coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. "They're on a roll and will be one of the great powers of the Cup."

Another problem is Mexico, theoretically a weaker team, he predicted. "We lost our last two games with Mexico," Scolari said.

The draw also will assign the cities for each group, which will be split between Japan and South Korea. But while FIFA says the draw will be "open and pure," it is moving to ensure that popular teams are evenly distributed.

China, making its World Cup debut, will play the first round in neighboring South Korea. Brazil hopes to land in Japan, where it has a strong following.

The Brazilian media have widely commented that the team is expecting to play in Kashima, where former star Zico is a local idol, but Scolari denied it.

"We haven't made plans yet," he said. "What good is it to prefer one city if we end up in the wrong place?"

Other coaches are simply happy to take part.

"We spent 15 months getting to the World Cup finals and we're delighted to be here," said Ireland coach Mick McCarthy. "We'll take whomever we get. Japan, Korea, I don't care."

U.S. coach Bruce Arena said it was a waste of energy speculating on the draw.