It's almost time for the FIFA World Cup draw, on Friday, December 5, in Washington D.C., six months before the World Cup begins in United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Three host countries for the competition, although the US will have more matches, including the final, and it will be at the Kennedy Center, with President Donald Trump in attendance, when we will know the formation of the 12 World Cup groups.
How does the World Cup 2026 draw work?
This time, there are 48 teams, 16 more than the usual, divided in four pots by their FIFA ranking. Each group of four teams will be made by one team from each of the pots, which are:
Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, South Africa
Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Curacao, Ghana, Haiti, New Zealand, four European playoff winners, two intercontinental playoff winners
This means that teams from the same pot will not face each other unless the knockout stages. This ensures balance and fairness, as the groups will be as balanced as possible. However, there are some restrictions in the draw:
Each group cannot have more than two teams from UEFA region (which accounts for 16 of the 48 teams in total)
There can only be one team from each of the other confederations (AFC, CONCACAF, CAF, CONMEBOL, and OFC) in each group
Spain and Argentina (the top two seeds), and France and England (third and four seeds) will not meet respectively until the final; Spain and Argentina wouldn't meet England or France until the semi-final
When the competition kicks off on June 11 in Mexico, at the Azteca Stadium, the best two teams of each group and the eight best third-placed teams will qualify for the round of 32 knockout stage. The final will be at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on July 19.
How to watch the World Cup 2026 draw on Friday
The World Cup 2026 draw will start at 17:00 GMT (UK time), 18:00 CET on Friday, December 5.
Here's a list of local broadcasters in Europe for the World Cup draw:
Belgium: Sporza, Auvio, VRT Max
Croatia: HRT
Iceland: RUV2
Norway: NONRK, TV 2
Spain: RTVE Play
Sweden: SVT2
Switzerland: RTS, SRF
United Kingdom: ITVX
Are you excited for World Cup 2026? If you can't wait, LEGO will release several sets to celebrate this World Cup... including minifigures for Messi and Ronaldo!