When is the 2026 World Cup draw?

The draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place on Friday, 5 December at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, at 17:00 GMT (12:00 local time).

It will be the biggest World Cup yet, with 48 nations taking part - an expansion from 32.

The three host countries qualify automatically, while nations from other confederations have their own qualifying campaigns.

The first ever Fifa Peace Prize will also be awarded by the organisation's president Gianni Infantino on the day of the draw.

The 2026 World Cup will take place in the USA, Mexico and Canada, between 11 June-19 July.

The 48 participating teams will be placed into pots based on Fifa rankings and confederation constraints.

The teams will be divided into four pots of 12 teams. Each group will have one team drawn from each pot.

Pot one includes the host nations and the nine top countries in the Fifa world rankings.

Pots two, three and four will include the next-best ranked teams - so in theory, each group should be balanced.

The teams representing the host counties will be assigned to positions A1- Mexico, B1 - Canada and D1 - USA.

Teams from the same confederation, apart from Uefa, cannot be drawn in the same group.

No more than two teams from Uefa will be in the same group.

Participants will be drawn into a group of four teams. There will be 12 groups in total.

As of 12 November 2025, here are the teams who have qualified for the 2026 World Cup:

Hosts: Canada, Mexico, United States

Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia

Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan

Europe: England

Oceania: New Zealand

South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay

It has not been announced who will do the draw in Washington DC, but US President Donald Trump will join Fifa president Gianni Infantino at the event.

Thank you to Adrian from Lincolnshire for the question.

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