The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will be held Friday at 12 noon ET at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
A record 64 countries will take part in this summer’s tournament to determine the qualifications for 48 teams.
advertise
U.S. President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney are also expected to attend the event.
This is the latest:
Today’s event bears little resemblance to recent events
As of late, there’s been little to compare to the buzz that’s coming to the Kennedy Center. The last time the United States hosted the World Cup in 1994, the draw was held in Las Vegas without then-President Bill Clinton in attendance.
This week’s lineup is a reminder that for Trump, a two-term president, best-selling author and one-time reality TV star, his favorite role is that of a performer. Trump transformed the Kennedy Center from one of Washington’s relatively apolitical spaces into an extension of the White House, which provided him with a natural stage.
advertise
Trump to star in today’s draw
The US president was instrumental in working with FIFA president Gianni Infantino to move the draw to the Kennedy Center, which had been widely expected to be held in Las Vegas.
FIFA may further honor Trump at the event by awarding its newly created Peace Prize.
Infantino has not yet confirmed that Trump will be the winner, but the two have developed a very close relationship, and Trump has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize. The same day FIFA said it would hand out the new award last month, Infantino called Trump a “close friend” who had “such incredible energy.”
advertise
Will there still be a “Group of Death”?
The highest-ranked team yet to qualify for this World Cup is four-time champions Italy, ranked 12th in the FIFA rankings. Italy still have a chance of qualifying via UEFA Play-off A, so teams may want to avoid being grouped with the qualifying groups in Pot 4.
In the past, the World Cup has seen so-called “Groups of Death” – judging from the draw results, the difficulty of qualifying for this group seems to be unusually high. With more teams spread across more groups — and the World Cup essentially being organized in descending order of FIFA rankings — there may not be a clear group of death this time around.
But there’s still a big difference in the quality of the teams in Pot 4, which includes the four European play-off winners – which could include Italy and 21st-placed Denmark – as well as 86th-placed New Zealand and World Cup newcomers Curaçao and Cape Verde.
advertise
Why top teams may not meet before semi-finals
There are 48 teams participating in this tournament, with the top two teams in each group, plus 8 of the 12 third-place teams, advancing to the 32-team single-elimination bracket.
FIFA’s top four teams – Spain, Argentina, France and England – will be drawn in such a way that if they win their group they will not meet before the semi-finals.
Other restrictions during the lottery include:
— Each group must have at least one European team, but no more than two.
— No two teams from the same league may be in the same group, except for UEFA (Europe). The other federations are AFC (Asia) and CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and the Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America) and OFC (Oceania).
advertise
How the draw works
The balls corresponding to the participating countries will be divided into four groups of 12, with each group including one team drawn from each group.
The rankings of each team are as follows, with each team’s current FIFA ranking in parentheses.
Pot 1 – Spain (1), Argentina (2), France (3), England (4), Brazil (5), Portugal (6), Netherlands (7), Belgium (8), Germany (9), United States (14), Mexico (15), Canada (27).
Second pot – Croatia (10), Morocco (11), Colombia (13), Uruguay (16), Switzerland (17), Japan (18), Senegal (19), Iran (20), South Korea (22), Ecuador (23), Austria (24), Australia (26).
Third pot – Norway (29), Panama (30), Egypt (34), Algeria (35), Scotland (36), Paraguay (39), Tunisia (40), Cote d’Ivoire (42), Uzbekistan (60), Qatar (51), Saudi Arabia (60), South Africa (61).
advertise
Pot 4 – Jordan (66), Cape Verde (68), Ghana (72), Curacao (82), Haiti (84), New Zealand (86), UEFA Play-off A, UEFA Play-off B, UEFA Play-off C, UEFA Play-off D, FIFA Play-off 1, FIFA Play-off 2.
The 6 balls in jar 4 do not correspond to any specific country. That’s because the six spots for the World Cup won’t be confirmed until March. Four European teams will advance through the UEFA play-offs, while two more FIFA play-offs will include teams from around the world.
The host countries – the United States, Mexico and Canada – were allowed to move into pot one. This is a major perk as it means they avoid being grouped with several of the tournament’s top teams.
The draw will begin at noon ET at the Kennedy Center
advertise
The event will be hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada next year and will expand from 32 to 48 teams.
Draw lots and divide them into 12 groups of four people each.
The 12 round-robin groups of the World Cup are designated as Group A, Group B…and so on, up to Group L.
It has been determined that Mexico will be in Group A, Canada will be in Group B, and the United States will be in Group D.
Saturday’s game times will all be announced.
