All eyes turn this evening, Friday, December 5, to the U.S. capital Washington, where the Kennedy Center for the Arts will host the 2026 World Cup draw ceremony at 8 PM Saudi time. The draw includes 42 teams that have officially qualified, with the final list to be completed after the European and global playoffs.

The current list includes the three host nations: Canada, the United States, and Mexico, along with teams from various continental federations — Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, CONCACAF, and Oceania — awaiting the final six spots to be decided in March 2026.

Four places will be decided via the European playoff involving 16 teams, while two places will be granted through the global playoff featuring Bolivia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Jamaica, New Caledonia, and Suriname.

FIFA has designated colored balls to distinguish the host countries, with Mexico in green leading Group 1, followed by Canada in red in Group 2, then the United States in blue in Group 4, while other teams were distributed according to the previously established order.

Distribution of teams into pots:


The teams were divided into four pots, with the world’s top teams in the first pot, and Morocco leading the teams in the second pot:

Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, United States, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany.

Pot 2: Morocco, Croatia, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia.

Pot 3: Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Panama, Scotland, Paraguay, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, South Africa.

Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, in addition to the qualifiers from the European and global playoffs.

Draw mechanism:


The ceremony begins by placing teams from Pot 1 into groups from 1 to 12, followed sequentially by Pots 2, 3, and 4. FIFA has predetermined the group leaders, with Mexico heading Group 1, Canada Group 2, and the United States Group 4.

Tournament format: expanded setup and broad knockout stage


The tournament features 48 teams divided into 12 groups. The group winners and runners-up qualify, along with the best eight third-placed teams, completing the round of 32.

Regulatory restrictions to ensure continental balance


FIFA applies strict rules preventing two teams from the same continental federation from being in the same group, except for Europe, which can have up to two teams in one group. Additionally, top-ranked teams like Spain, Argentina, France, and England will be separated to avoid meeting before the later stages.

Full match schedule revealed after 24 hours


FIFA will announce the match schedule and host stadiums on Saturday, one day after the draw ceremony, through its official platforms.

Broadcasting channel:

The draw will be broadcast on beIN Sports News channel.