Ten candidates have made the cut for the first Republican presidential debate Thursday, with polling front-runner Donald Trump hoping for a civil evening but ready to pounce if attacked.

The seven others lagging in the polls and relegated to an afternoon forum? Call them the not-ready-for-prime-time players, at least in the eyes of debate organizers.

The two-hour debate is scheduled for 9 p.m. Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, with a televised forum for the seven candidates not selected to take part beginning at 5 p.m.

The candidates are:

9 p.m. debate

  1. Businessman Donald Trump
  2. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
  3. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
  4. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
  5. Retired surgeon Ben Carson
  6. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz
  7. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio
  8. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul
  9. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
  10. Ohio Gov. John Kasich

5 p.m. forum

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

Fox sorted the candidates based on the average of the five most recent national opinion polls performed prior to a deadline of 5 p.m. Tuesday by nationally recognized organizations that are not affiliated with a party or a candidate.

The network used polls from CBS News, Fox News, Bloomberg, Monmouth University and Quinnipiac University.

Five more party-sanctioned debates are scheduled before primary voting begins in February.

Election 2016: View the Presidential Playing Field