World Cup 2026 draw: Date, start time, qualified teams and how it works

The 48 nations competing at the 2026 World Cup will discover their group stage opponents when the draw takes place on 5 December.

The tournament will be the first to feature 48 teams, expanded from 32 in Qatar, and will also be the first World Cup to be hosted by three countries. The majority of games (78) will be staged in the USA, with Mexico and Canada hosting 13 each.

The World Cup will begin on 11 June in Mexico’s historic Azteca Stadium, the scene of Brazil’s 1970 glory inspired by Pele and Argentina’s success in 1986 inspired by Diego Maradona. It will conclude with the final on 19 July at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Here is everything you need to know.

When is the World Cup 2026 draw?

The draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place at 5pm GMT/12pm EST on Friday 5 December, at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. The US president Donald Trump is expected to be in attendance.

How does the World Cup draw work?

The 48 nations will be divided into 12 groups containing four teams each, one from each of four draw pots.

Pot one will contain the three host nations – USA, Canada and Mexico – plus the nine top countries in the Fifa world rankings who have qualified for the tournament. Already, Mexico have been assigned Group A, Canada into Group B and the USA into Group C.

Pots two, three and four will contain the next 12 best-ranked sides in order so that, theoretically, the groups will be balanced and the best teams will be kept separate until the knockout rounds.

Teams from the same confederation will be kept apart in the group stage, except for Europe where there are more teams (13) than groups (12). No group will have more than two European nations.

How the new World Cup format works

The top two finishers in each group will qualify automatically for the last-32, along with the eight best third-placed teams.

The ranking of the third-placed teams will be determined by points, then goal difference, then goals scored. If two or more teams are still level, then “team conduct scores” will come into play (a yellow card is minus one point, a red card via two yellow cards is minus three points, and a straight red card is minus four). If still equal, the team with the highest world ranking will progress.

How are World Cup places allocated?

Each continental confederation has a set number of nations taking part in the World Cup. Europe has the most teams with 13, and Africa has five. Play-offs between the other confederations will decide exactly how many teams they have representing them at the tournament.

UEFA (Europe): 13 spots

CAF (Africa): 5 spots

AFC (Asia): 4-5 spots

CONMEBOL (South America): 4-5 spots

CONCACAF (North America): 3-4 spots

OFC (Oceania): 0-1 spots

Who has qualified for the 2026 World Cup?