COSTA DO SAUIPE, BRAZIL (AP) - The draw ceremony for the World Cup is underway in Brazil, opening with a tribute to Nelson Mandela.
A film shown at the start of the ceremony showed Mandela at the final of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and other images from the life of the anti-apartheid campaigner who died Thursday at 95. A minute’s silence was then held to honor Mandela.
Some 1,300 guests filled a cavernous tent erected for the 90-minute show being broadcast live to some 190 countries from the Brazilian Atlantic resort .
The draw will divide the 32 teams into eight groups _ labeled A to H _ of four teams each. The basic principle of pulling countries randomly has been used by the sport’s governing body for decades and was first televised in 1966.
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