Which Republican candidates will face off with Donald Trump in the first debate?

WATCH: The ten candidates for the upcoming Republican Presidential primary debate on Thursday have been announced, and all eyes are on who will be taking the spotlight from Donald Trump. Craig Boswell reports.

Is this the end for the one-per-centers? No, it’s not the wealthy elite we’re talking about (although there are more than a few among this crowd): it’s the Republican presidential hopefuls whose White House hopes may be ending already.

The first face-off for GOP candidates will be held in Cleveland Thursday night. But according to the rules set out by Fox News, the cable network airing the debate, only 10 of the 17 Republicans in the race will be able to take part in the main event.

Fox News selected the 10 candidates based on how popular they are, as determined by an average of the five most recent national polls as of 5 p.m. ET Tuesday.

So if you were expecting to see some fireworks between front-runner Donald Trump and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose cellphone number Trump gave out at a campaign event, you’re out of luck.

Graham, according to multiple polls, is at the back of the pack with less than 1 per cent support.

According to the New York Times, the five latest polls were released by NBC/The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Quinnipiac Univesity, ABC/Washington Post and Monmouth University.

While the numbers fluctuate from poll to poll, there is little change in the candidates who are in the Top 10 and the stage is likely set for Thursday night.

WATCH: It’s a tight race to make it into the top 10 for the first GOP candidate debate. Craig Boswell reports.

Trump, who has suffered little in the polls after making controversial comments about illegal immigrants and the Vietnam-war era captivity of 2008 Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, still maintains a formidable lead over his nearest rival, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

READ MORE: Can Donald Trump’s rivals stop him? Or will his mouth be his downfall?

After Trump and Bush, the son of 41st President George H.W. Bush and brother of 43rd President George W. Bush, the line-up for the debate looks like this:

• Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
• Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
• Retired neurosurgeon and political commentator Ben Carson
• Texas Sen. Ted Cruz
• Florida Sen. Marco Rubio*
• Kentucky congressman Rand Paul
• New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
• Ohio Gov. John Kasich

Although their names are familiar to the American public, the candidates that don’t have the clout to make it to the main stage are:

• Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry
• Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum
• Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal
• Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina
• Former New York Gov. George Pataki
• South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham
• Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore

The bottom seven all have an average support of 2 per cent (Rick Perry) or lower (everyone else). In fact Graham, Pataki and Gilmore — a late entry to the race just last week who has only been included in a few polls – all have less than 1 per cent support, according to the Washington Post.

The seven also-running candidates will get their chance to take part in a debate — just not the one most people will be watching. Fox News will hold an earlier debate for them at 5 p.m. ET Thursday. The main debate airs at 9 p.m. ET, during the prime time TV watching schedule.

The debates will be moderated by Fox News personalities Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier and Chris Wallace.

The presidential primaries begin in Iowa in February. The presidential election will be held Nov. 8, 2016.

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PLEASE NOTE: An earlier version of this post stated the presidential primaries begin in January. This post has been corrected to state the primaries begin in February. Also, this post previously stated Marco Rubio is a former Florida senator; he has been in office since 2011. These errors have been corrected.