World Cup 2026 draw in full: England to face Croatia and Ghana as Scotland handed tough group

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Evening Standard

·1 April 2026

World Cup 2026 draw in full: England to face Croatia and Ghana as Scotland handed tough group

England to face Croatia in their first game on June 17

The table is now set for the 2026 World Cup.

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An expanded tournament, featuring 48 teams, will take place across three host countries, the United States, Canada and Mexico, starting on June 11 and concluding on July 19.

The 2026 World Cup draw took place in December and it featured US President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on stage, FIFA president Gianni Infantino acted as the master of ceremonies of a star-studded event.

However, there were still six spots to be filled after the draw was concluded and they have since been taken by Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sweden, Turkey, Czechia, DR Congo and Iraq following a play-off round.

The first game of the tournament will see Mexico face South Africa on June 11, with USA and Canada facing Paraguay and Bosnia respectively the following day in their first games.

England will face Croatia, Ghana and Panama in the group stage, though Group I, which features France, Norway, Senegal and Iraq has to be considered the ‘group of death’.

Scotland’s reward for reaching a first World Cup since 1998 is to be drawn alongside Brazil, Morocco and Haiti in Group C, taking on the latter in their opening game on June 13.