Where to watch: All you need to know about the 2026 World Cup draw | OneFootball

The 2026 World Cup draw for the United States, Canada, and Mexico will take place on Friday, December 5th, starting at 2 PM at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, located in Washington D.C. The Argentina National Team, the defending champion, will be one of the group leaders and will be in Pot 1. Find out all the details about it.

Format and Rules of the 2026 World Cup Draw

The 48 teams will be distributed into four different pots based on their position in the FIFA ranking, from there, 12 groups of 4 teams each will be formed.

Additionally, for the first time, a rule will be applied that prevents Spain and Argentina from facing each other before the final if they lead their groups, this is because both teams occupy the first and second positions in the ranking. The same situation applies to England and France (positions three and four) and with the United States twice over, which should not clash with Mexico and Canada until the decisive match, as long as the mentioned teams top their groups.

The host teams will be assigned to different groups to ensure that each plays matches in their own country during the group stage. Additionally, the teams ranked highest will be designated as group leaders, allowing them to avoid facing each other in the first phase.

A rule returning after 32 years is that the eight best third-place teams will qualify for the next stage, where they will face the leaders of groups E, G, I, L, and K, while the remaining ones will face the leaders of groups A, B, and D, where the group leaders have already been confirmed (Mexico, Canada, and the United States, respectively).

As usual, FIFA establishes rules to prevent teams from the same confederation from facing each other in the same group, except in the case of UEFA, where up to two are allowed. With this in mind, Bolivia, being in Playoff 2 along with Suriname and Iraq, could not face teams from CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, or AFC, therefore, it will definitely go against one African and two European teams, one of which will belong to Pot 1.

In the case of Playoff 2, composed of Jamaica, New Caledonia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the restrictions prevent matches with CONCACAF, OFC, and CAF, so, if paired with a South American team from the first pot (Argentina or Brazil), the other two teams will necessarily come from Europe and Asia.

Pots for the 2026 World Cup Draw

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.