With shows by Andrea Bocelli and Village People, the draw that will define the 12 groups of the 2026 World Cup will take place this Friday (5), at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, United States, from 2pm (Brasília time).
The 42 teams already qualified for the World Cup and the six remaining places — to be defined through the European and intercontinental playoffs in March — were previously distributed into four pots.
The arrangement of the pots, with 12 teams each, takes into account the classification of the teams in the FIFA (International Football Federation) ranking, with the exception of the three host countries — United States, Canada and Mexico —, which were in the first, reserved for the seeded teams.
In pot 1, in addition to the countries that will host the World Cup, there are also Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
In pot 2, there are Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria and Australia.
The teams from Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Africa are part of pot 3.
In pot 4, there are Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti and New Zealand. The six places still to be defined through the repechages are also in the last pot of the draw.
The draw will begin with pot 1. After all teams from that pool have been allocated to one of the 12 groups from A to L, the draw will move to pot 2, and so on. The host countries will again be the exceptions. Mexico is already guaranteed as a member of group A, Canada, in group B, and the United States, in group D.
According to the rules defined by FIFA, no group will have more than one team from the same regional confederation, with the exception of UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), which will have 16 representatives and can place up to two teams in a group.
Furthermore, “to ensure competitive balance”, the leader and vice-leader of the ranking -Spain and Argentina– will be on opposite sides of the bracket. The same principle will be applied to the teams that occupy third and fourth place in the ranking — France and England, respectively.
This way, if they win their groups, the two highest ranked teams will not face each other before the final. Even if these teams don’t win their groups, they won’t be able to meet before the semi-finals.
The top two in each group advance, plus the eight best third-placed teams, with the 32 teams now facing each other in knockout matches. There will be, in total, 104 matches.
The venues where the teams will be concentrated, the stadiums and the times for each game will only be announced on Saturday (6).
Repechages in March define the last six places
In addition to the 12 European teams already guaranteed in the World Cup, another 16 are still competing in the regional play-offs, between March 26th and 31st. The teams face each other in a knockout tournament, with two rounds, for four remaining places in the World Cup.
Four-time world champions, Italy will face Northern Ireland in the first round. If they advance, they will face the winner of Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ukraine will face Sweden, with the winner taking on whoever passes from Poland and Albania. Ireland faces the Czech Republic, for the right to face Denmark or North Macedonia. Turkey will play against Romania. Whoever passes faces Slovakia or Kosovo.
For the intercontinental repechage, six teams will be divided into two main draws, each giving the right to a place in the World Cup. The games will also be between March 26th and 31st, in the Mexican cities of Guadalajara and Monterrey.
In one of the brackets, Iraq will await the winner of the clash between Bolivia and Suriname. In the other group, New Caledonia and Jamaica duel for the right to face the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The 2026 World Cup begins on June 11 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, with the final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.
