World Cup 2026 draw: Everything you need to know | OneFootball

As the countdown to the start of the World Cup 2026 in the United States from June 11 to July 19 continues, FIFA has disclosed all the details for the draw taking place this Friday, December 5.

With six spots still to be determined by the play-offs – four via the European fixtures, two by the intercontinental play-offs – the world's largest national team tournament will feature 48 teams.

The balls will start rolling this Friday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts at 17:00 GMT in Washington. It is important to note that the draw pots are composed based on the FIFA Ranking coefficient as of November 19, 2025.

Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.

Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Austria, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Senegal, and Australia.

Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Ivory Coast, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.

Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, four European playoff spots, and two FIFA tournament spots.

Under this scenario, the names of the various national teams will be distributed from pot to pot until each of these is finalised in groups from A to L.

Group Stage Restrictions and Among the Favourites

As usual, thje World Cup hosts will be pre-placed in separate groups. Mexico will be in group A (position A1), Canada in group B (B1), and the United States in group D (D1), while the other teams from pot 1 will be in the first position of their respective group.

The teams in pots 2, 3, and 4 will be separated by confederations although it is likely that a few UEFA nations will face off in the group stage due to the extra teams coming through the play-offs.

As well as those constraints, FIFA has decided that the four highest-ranked national teams, namely Spain, Argentina, France, and England, will not be on the same side of the competitive bracket when the knockout stages begin with the idea to save 'marquee' games for the later on.

To conclude, the tournament will have 12 groups of four teams, a structure that will have its schedule and venues defined the day after the draw, on December 6.