It’s almost here! The FIFA World Cup draw is set for December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., where all teams will know their group assignments.
Recently, FIFA unveiled the final pots for the 48 participating teams, modeled on the FIFA men’s world rankings. The three host nations— the United States, Canada, and Mexico—alongside nine other top-ranked teams will join pot one. The rankings stall subsequent groups based on various tiered rankings.
FIFA World Cup 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, 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 Play-Off A, B, C, and D, FIFA Play-Off Tournament 1 and 2.
Notably, the draw will avoid placing more than one team from the same federation in a group, except for UEFA, which will contain two groups of two teams. Teams from UEFA will have to undergo specific conditions to ensure no conflict arises.
When are the playoffs? All playoffs will occur throughout the March international break in 2026, starting with UEFA playoffs on March 26 and completing with finals by March 31.
Inter-confederation Playoffs Draw:
- Path 1: New Caledonia vs. Jamaica,
- Path 2: Bolivia vs. Suriname.
