When will the World Cup 2026 fixture schedule be confirmed? | OneFootball

England are in Pot 1 for Friday’s draw

The World Cup draw takes place on Friday, though fans face a wait for the entire fixture schedule for the 2026 tournament to be confirmed.

England are in Pot 1, which shields them from the big-hitters early.

That said, there are still some tricky customers that the Three Lions could be drawn against.

Thomas Tuchel and his staff will find out their group-stage opponents on Friday, with their schedule confirmed the day after, on Saturday, December 6.

The tournament - newly-expanded next year - will see 12 groups drawn, with 104 matches to be played across the opening round.

FIFA have outlined their ‘match allocation process’ on their website, where dates and kick-off times for the group-stage games will be finalised.

There are still teams left to qualify, however, with the inter-confederation play-offs set to take place in Mexico in March.

FIFA has confirmed that a final match schedule will be released following the conclusion of those play-offs next year, where two final teams will qualify for the tournament.