The draw for the grandest ever FIFA World Cup 2026 takes place on Friday, 5 December at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The 42 qualified teams will thus know their opponents and pathways to the world title even as
22 more sides remain in the fray to grab the remaining six slots for the tournament.
The expansion of the 2026 FIFA World Cup from 32 to 48 teams also affects how the draw takes place, with the process set to get longer and things getting a little more complex.
Here we look at how the draw process for the upcoming FIFA World Cup that takes place across the United States, Canada and Mexico will unfold.
The journey begins tomorrow! Don’t miss it. 🏆
Visit https://t.co/zJTWWlwshQ to find out where you can watch the Draw in your territory.
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) December 4, 2025
FIFA World Cup 2026 draw pots
All 48 teams will be put into four pots of 12 sides each on the basis of their rankings. Top nine teams along with the three host nations will be put in the first pot. The next 24 best sides will be divided into the next two pots as per their rankings and the last pot will have the remaining teams alongside the six remaining qualifiers who are yet to be decided.
The pots for the draw are as follows:
Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, Korea Republic, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, European Playoff A, B, C and D, Intercontinental Playoff 1 and 2
The names of these teams will be written on a paper which will be folded and put into these pots.
FIFA World Cup draw process
The World Cup will have 12 groups of four teams each. Mexico, Canada and the United States have already taken a spot in Groups A, B and D respectively as hosts. The remaining nine teams in Pot 1 will be then drawn out one by one in random order and placed in the other nine groups.
The process will then move on to Pot 2, 3 and 4 respectively to allocate teams to all groups.
FIFA World Cup draw rules
While randomness is ensured in trying to fix the groups, there are also some rules in place. Teams from the same confederation cannot be drawn into the same group. However, since UEFA has 16 representatives in the World Cup, two of them are permitted to be in one group.
Also,
FIFA brought in a new rule ahead of the draw that the top four teams will be placed in separate sections of the tournament brackets. This will ensure that the top-ranked Spain can only meet Argentina in the final of the World Cup, provided both sides win their groups.
When will FIFA World Cup 2026 schedule be announced?
The day after the draw is finalised, FIFA will reveal the full schedule of the World Cup on Saturday, December 6. 16 cities across the three countries will be hosting a total of 104 matches in what will be the biggest football World Cup ever. The tournament will start on June 11 and the final is scheduled for July 19.
FIFA World Cup teams that can still qualify
UEFA Playoffs teams: Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Italy, Northern Ireland, Ukraine, Sweden, Poland, Albania, Slovakia, Kosovo, Türkiye, Romania, Czech Republic, Ireland, Denmark, North Macedonia
FIFA World Cup Playoff Tournament teams: New Caledonia, Jamaica, Bolivia, Suriname, Congo, Iraq
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