Everything you need to know about the 2026 World Cup Draw

Mr Football
Dec 3, 2025
2 min read

2026 World Cup Draw: What & When

The draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place on Friday, 5 December 2025, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

With this tournament expanded to 48 teams, the draw will split participants into 12 groups of 4.

How the Draw Works: Pots, Seedings, and Rules

Teams are divided into four pots of 12 based on the latest FIFA World Rankings.
The three host nations : United States, Canada and Mexico, are automatically seeded into Pot 1, and already assigned to specific groups.
When drawing groups, each group will have one team from each pot, meaning strong and weaker teams will be spread out.
To ensure balance and fairness: no group may contain more than one team from the same confederation, except Europe (UEFA), where groups may contain up to two European teams due to their large representation.

Confirmed Pots for the 2026 world cup draw

New Format & What’s Different This Time

The 2026 edition is the largest ever World Cup, with 48 teams and 104 matches which is up from the usual 32 teams and 64 matches. Because of the expanded size, after the group stage, the top two teams from each group plus the eight best third-placed teams will advance to the Round of 32.

A new rule also means the top four ranked non-host teams (based on rankings) are placed in separate parts of the knockout bracket where they can’t meet until the semifinals if they all progress.

How to Watch the Draw

The draw will air live worldwide; check local broadcasters. Globally, it will stream on FIFA’s official website and YouTube channel. In the U.K., it will be on BBC; in the U.S., on FOX and Fubo; and many other regions will get regional streams or broadcast coverage.

What to Watch Out For — What It Means for Teams & Fans

The draw will reveal group-stage opponents which is huge for teams planning logistics, strategies, and fan travel.

Smaller nations and debutants get a chance to shine: with 48 teams, there’s more room for surprise qualifiers. Because of the new format, there’s more complexity around qualification: finishing 3rd in a group could still get you through to knockouts and this invites potential for dramatic comebacks and surprises.

The draw also sets the roadmap to the final: the bracket layout, paths to the semis/final for top teams, and possible match-ups far ahead of kickoff.