On Friday, December 5, the final draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
Idman.Biz reports that the draw will, for the first time, group a record 48 national teams, officially starting the countdown to the largest World Cup in history, hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The draw procedure begins at 21:00 Baku time.
The main difference from previous World Cup draws is the new scale and structure: instead of eight groups, there will be 12 groups (A-L) with four teams each. At the time of the ceremony, not all participants are known: the fourth pot includes four winners of the European playoffs and two winners of the intercontinental playoff tournaments, which will be determined later.
The draw procedure has also received several notable adjustments. Teams are divided into four pots of 12 teams based on the FIFA ranking as of November 19, 2025. Host nations are automatically placed in Pot 1 with predetermined group positions: Mexico – A1, Canada – B1, USA – D1. The draw then proceeds through Pots 1, 2, 3, and 4, with positions for teams in Pots 2-4 determined according to a predefined allocation template.
Another innovation is the strict separation of top-ranked teams in the two halves of the knockout bracket: the first and second-ranked teams (Spain and Argentina) and the third and fourth (France and England) are placed on different paths to the semifinals to avoid meeting until the later stages.
Confederation restrictions remain in principle but become more significant with 48 teams: generally, a group cannot have more than one team from the same confederation, except UEFA, which can have up to two European teams per group due to Europe’s 16 slots. For playoff participants in Pot 4, restrictions are also applied based on possible confederations of future winners.
An important note for fans and organizers: the draw will determine group-stage opponents, but the stadium allocations and exact match kickoff times will be confirmed separately on December 6.
2026 World Cup draw pots:
Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand
- Winner of European Playoff Path A (Bosnia & Herzegovina, Italy, Northern Ireland, or Wales)
- Winner of European Playoff Path B (Albania, Poland, Sweden, or Ukraine)
- Winner of European Playoff Path C (Kosovo, Romania, Slovakia, or Turkey)
- Winner of European Playoff Path D (Czech Republic, Denmark, North Macedonia, or Ireland)
- Winner of Intercontinental Playoff Tournament 1 (DR Congo, Jamaica, or New Caledonia)
- Winner of Intercontinental Playoff Tournament 2 (Bolivia, Iraq, or Suriname)
Teymur Tushiyev
