wc.jpg
Getty Images

The 2026 World Cup draw will take place on Friday at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington , D.C. at 12 p.m. ET. This is going to be one of the most important moments ahead of the much-awaited summer tournament that will take place in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, kicking off on June 11, 2026, at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, and ending on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New York City. Friday's draw, the first for the newly-expanded 48-team World Cup, will define the path to the final for all the teams involved, but while 42 have already clinched a spot next summer, six more will know their path with the playoffs taking place in March 2026. Let's now take a look at all you need to know ahead of Friday's draw: 

When is the draw taking place? 

The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will finally reveal the group-stage paths for the 42 teams already secured, including the three co-hosts (Canada, Mexico, and the United States), and the six contenders for the final spots in the inter-confederation and European playoffs set for late March 2026. FIFA announced it will be co-hosted by Heidi Klum, Kevin Hart and Danny Ramirez.

How to watch FIFA World Cup 2026 draw

Date: Friday, Dec. 5 | Time: 12 p.m. ET
Location: John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts -- Washington, D.C.
TV: Fox | Live stream: Fubo (try for free)

How does the draw work? 

Canada, Mexico and the United States, as the host countries, will be assigned to positions A1 for Mexico (green ball), B1 for Canada (red ball) and D1 for the USA (blue ball), as already established per the match schedule released in 2024. The remaining nine top-ranked teams in pot 1 will be identified by nine balls of the same color and automatically allocated to position one of the group into which they are drawn.

To ensure competitive balance, two separate pathways to the semifinals have been established when developing the match schedule. In order to have a balanced distribution of the teams, the four highest-ranked teams in the FIFA Men's Rankings, when drawn, will have the following constraints: the highest-ranked team (Spain) and the second highest-ranked team (Argentina) will be randomly drawn into opposite pathways, and the same principle will apply to the third (France) and fourth (England) highest-ranked teams. This will ensure that, should they win their groups, the two highest-ranked teams will not meet before the final.

No group will have more than one team from the same federation in it, except UEFA, which is required to have two groups of two UEFA teams in it, due to the fact that 16 teams will be participating in the tournament. Then there's the challenge of the inter-confederation playoffs, which will not be held until after the draw. For the playoff tournament teams, the confederation restrictions will be applied to all teams involved in the playoff, which would keep the host nations from drawing a team involved in the FIFA playoff tournament due to Jamaica and Suriname being involved as Concacaf teams.

Teams qualified 

Spots clinched: 42/48

World Cup hosts 

Since the 2026 World Cup is co-hosted by three nations, they all receive an automatic qualifying spot in the tournament. 

  • United States
  • Mexico
  • Canada

AFC Qualifiers 

  • Iran
  • Uzbekistan
  • South Korea
  • Jordan
  • Australia
  • Japan
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia

Concacaf Qualifiers

  • Haiti
  • Curacao
  • Panama

OFC Qualifier

  • New Zealand

CONMEBOL Qualifiers

  • Argentina
  • Brazil
  • Ecuador
  • Colombia
  • Paraguay
  • Uruguay

CAF Qualifiers

  • Morocco
  • Egypt
  • Tunisia
  • Ghana
  • Cabo Verde
  • Algeria
  • South Africa
  • Senegal
  • Ivory Coast

UEFA qualifiers

  • England
  • France
  • Croatia
  • Portugal 
  • Norway 
  • Germany 
  • Netherlands 
  • Switzerland
  • Scotland
  • Spain
  • Austria
  • Belgium 

World Cup pots 

The four pots also include the six teams that are to be determined, and all of them will end up in the fourth pot of the draw, with teams like Italy, Poland and Sweden potentially landing in the last pot. The official pots 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, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, European Playoff A, B, C and D, FIFA PlayOff Tournament 1 and 2

World Cup playoffs

All playoffs will take place during the March international break in 2026. The UEFA playoffs are scheduled from Thursday, March 26, with the finals on March 31. The inter-confederation playoffs will take place in Mexico, being split between the Estadio Akron in Guadalajara and the Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, taking place between March 23-31. By the end of March, all 48 teams will be determined and placed in groups.

Inter-confederation playoffs draw

PATH 1

Semifinal: New Caledonia vs. Jamaica 

Final: Congo DR vs. New Caledonia/Jamaica 

PATH 2

Semifinal: Bolivia vs. Suriname

Final: Iraq vs. Bolivia/Suriname

European playoffs draw

PATH A

Semifinal: Italy vs. Northern Ireland 

Semifinal: Wales vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina 

Final: Wales/Bosnia vs. Italy/Northern Ireland 

PATH B 

Semifinal: Ukraine vs. Sweden 

Semifinal: Poland vs. Albania 

Final: Ukraine/Sweden vs. Poland/Albania

PATH C

Semifinal: Turkiye vs. Romania 

Semifinal: Slovakia vs. Kosovo 

Final: Slovakia/Kosovo vs. Turkiye/Romania 

PATH D

Semifinal: Denmark vs. North Macedonia 

Semifinal: Czechia vs. Republic of Ireland 

Final: Czechia/Republic of Ireland vs. Denmark/North Macedonia 

World Cup schedule

FIFA have also announced that they will unveil the updated match schedule for the World Cup in a live global broadcast on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET from Washington, D.C., as the match allocation process that follows the draw aims to ensure the best possible conditions for all teams and spectators while, where possible, enabling fans all over the world to watch their teams play live across different time zones. The final version of the match schedule will be available in March, once the playoffs have taken place and the final six slots have been filled.