The draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place on Friday 5 December at Washington DC's Kennedy Center, starting at 12pm local time (5pm GMT). The event will feature speeches, performances, and the awarding of Fifa's peace prize before the 48 teams are placed into 12 groups.
The teams are divided into four pots of 12 based on Fifa rankings. Pot 1 includes co-hosts USA, Mexico, and Canada, along with the top nine ranked teams: Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Pot 2 contains Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, and Australia.
Pot 3 features Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Côte d'Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. Pot 4 includes Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, four European playoff teams, and two intercontinental playoff teams. The six playoff spots will be decided in late March.
Teams from the same confederation are generally kept apart, but Uefa's 16 teams mean a maximum of two European sides per group. The top four ranked teams—Spain, Argentina, France, and England—cannot meet before the semi-finals if they win their groups. The match schedule will be released on Saturday 6 December.
European playoffs include ties such as Italy v Northern Ireland and Poland v Albania, while intercontinental playoffs involve New Caledonia v Jamaica and Bolivia v Suriname. A potential group could feature Argentina, Morocco, Italy, and Norway, combining high-ranked and dangerous unseeded teams.
