FIFA Confirms Final Draw Procedures for 2026 World Cup

Washington, D.C. — FIFA has officially announced the procedures for the final draw of the FIFA World Cup 2026™, marking a major milestone ahead of the first-ever 48-team edition of the tournament. The ceremony will take place on Friday, 5 December, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., where participating nations will learn their group-stage opponents.

The final will be held on 19 July 2026 in New York/New Jersey.FIFA also confirmed that the complete match schedule—featuring venue assignments and kickoff times—will be released the following day, Saturday, 6 December.

Key Moment in Countdown to 2026

With fewer than 200 days remaining until kickoff, FIFA outlined the detailed process that will determine the composition of the 12 groups. Coaches from qualified teams and officials from national associations—along with representatives still vying for the remaining playoff spots—are expected to attend the event.

How the Draw Will Work

The three host nations—Canada, Mexico, and the United States—will be placed in Pot 1, joined by the nine highest-ranked qualified teams according to the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking as of 19 November 2025.

Playoff qualifiers—four from Europe and two from the Intercontinental Playoff—will be assigned to Pot 4.

Pot allocations:

Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany

Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, IR 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, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, four European playoff winners, two Intercontinental playoff winnersTeams will be drawn sequentially from Pots 1 through 4, beginning with the placement of top seeds into Groups 1–12.

Host Nations Assigned to Specific Groups

FIFA confirmed that the hosts will be distinguished using colored balls during the ceremony.

• Mexico (green ball) will head Group 1
• Canada (red ball) will head Group 2
• United States (blue ball) will head Group 4

The placement follows the official match schedule published in February 2024.

Restrictions to Ensure Competitive Balance

To prevent the highest-ranked teams from meeting prematurely, FIFA has created two separate semifinal paths. Spain (world No. 1) and Argentina (No. 2) will be drawn into different paths, with the same rule applied to France (No. 3) and England (No. 4).

Standard confederation restrictions will apply:

• No group may contain more than one team per confederation, except UEFA, which can have up to two European teams in the same group.
• Each group must include at least one UEFA team.

Intercontinental playoff winners will also be subject to confederation restrictions based on their playoff path structure.

FIFA has urged fans to visit FIFA.com for full procedural details.

Venues and Kickoff Times Coming Soon

While the draw will determine group-stage matchups, the final logistical details—stadiums and kickoff timings—will be announced on 6 December. 

FIFA said the schedule will be designed to ensure optimal conditions for teams and convenient viewing times for supporters across global time zones.

FIFA Media