World Cup 2026 draw live: England, Scotland and hosts USA discover group-stage opponents and routes to final

World Cup 2026 draw

• World Cup 2026 draw set to take place at 5pm GMT (12pm local time) in Washington DC
• First 48-team World Cup will be hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico next summer
• Draw will see tournament split into 12 groups of four teams each
• Each group must contain one or two Uefa teams, and no more than one from any other confederation
• England in pot 1 along with Brazil, Argentina, Spain, France and three host nations
• Scotland in pot 3 after earning place at first World Cup since 1998
• Wales, Northern Ireland and Rep of Ireland could still qualify via play-offs in March

Rules and regs

The draw will be conducted while keeping in mind some additional requirements:

— Each group must have at least one European team, but no more than two.

— Aside from Uefa (Europe), no two teams from the same confederation can be in the same group. The other confederations are the AFC (Asia) and Caf (Africa), Concacaf (North and Central America and the Caribbean), Conmebol (South America) and the OFC (Oceania).

Remember: Suriname play in Concacaf and Australia play in the AFC, but New Zealand are part of the OFC, because nothing is ever simple.

Pot 4

Finally, pot 4 contains the six lowest ranked teams including three debutants, one of whom is the tiny Caribbean island of Curacao off the coast of Venezuela.

The six play-off winners will end up in this pot, eventually – four from the Uefa play-offs and two from the inter-continental play-offs. More about those fixtures shortly.

• Jordan (66) - debut
• Cape Verde (68) - debut
• Ghana (72)
• Curaçao (82) - debut
• Haiti (84)
• New Zealand (86)
• Uefa PO winner: Wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina or Italy or Northern Ireland
• Uefa PO winner: Ukraine or Sweden or Poland or Albania
• Uefa PO winner: Slovakia or Kosovo or Turkey or Romania
• Uefa PO winner: Czech Republic or Republic of Ireland or Denmark or North Macedonia
• IC play-off winner: Bolivia or Suriname or Iraq
• IC play-off winner: Jamaica or New Caledonia or DR Congo

Pot 3

Pot 3 contains five African nations and two from the Middle East, as well as debutants Uzbekistan. Scotland are here too, back on the World Cup stage after 28 years away.

• Norway (29)
• Panama (30)
• Egypt (34)
• Algeria (35)
• Scotland (36)
• Paraguay (39)
• Tunisia (41)
• Ivory Coast (42)
• Uzbekistan (50) - debut
• Qatar (54)
• Saudi Arabia (60)
• South Africa (61)

Pot 2

Pot 2 contains the next batch of qualified teams, based on world rankings. It is a diverse pot with only three European nations and most of the continental federations are representated here – Australia just snuck in.

• 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)

Pot 1

So, here is how the pots shape up.

Pot 1 contains the top nine ranked nations, plus the three hosts. It is fair to say that those teams in pots 2, 3 and 4 might prefer taking on Canada – even if it is away from home – in the group stage, rather than meeting some of the heavyweights.

• Mexico (co-host) (Current Fifa ranking: 15)
• Canada (co-host) (27)
• United States (co-host) (14)
• Spain (1)
• Argentina (2)
• France (3)
• England (4)
• Brazil (5)
• Portugal (6)
• Netherlands (7)
• Belgium (8)
• Germany (9)

How does the World Cup draw work?

Of course, 12 groups does not easily make for a knockout stage. So, 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 does the World Cup draw work?

Gone are the simple old days of 32 teams making eight groups of four, with the top two qualifying for the knockout rounds. Now, 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 to Group B and the USA to Group D.

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 (16) than groups. No group will have more than two European nations.

A unique World Cup

This 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 104 games will be staged in the USA (78), with Mexico and Canada hosting 13 each.

The World Cup will begin on 11 June, 2026 in Mexico’s historic Azteca Stadium, the scene of Brazil’s 1970 glory inspired by Pele and Argentina’s success in 1986 led by Diego Maradona. It will conclude with the final on 19 July at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

World Cup 2026 draw

Hello and welcome along to live coverage of the World Cup 2026 draw.