FIFA have confirmed the procedures and pots for the draw for the 2026 Men’s World Cup. The 48 teams will be placed into 12 groups, each with four teams, and the two highest ranked teams will be placed in groups on opposite sides of the elimination phase bracket.

The host nations were automatically placed in groups: Mexico in Group A, Canada in Group B, and the United States in Group D. The top nine teams in the FIFA rankings complete pot 1 and will be placed into the remaining groups.

However, the two highest ranked teams, Spain and Argentina, will be placed into groups such that they cannot meet before the final or third place match should they both finish first in their groups. Accordingly, one will be placed into Group C, J, K, or L, and the other into Group E, F, G, H, or I. The same will apply to the third and fourth highest ranked teams, France and England.

The remaining pots contain the other qualifying teams based on their rankings. In addition to the six lowest ranked teams, Pot 4 contains placeholders for the winning teams from the UEFA playoffs and the interconfederation playoffs.

As with previous tournaments, teams from the same confederation will be kept apart. With a total of sixteen teams from UEFA, four of the groups will contain two UEFA teams, and each of the remaining groups will have one UEFA team. Each group will have no more than one team from each of the remaining confederations. As a result, the winner of playoff path 1 must be placed into a group containing no CAF, CONCACAF, or OFC teams, and the winner of playoff path 2 must be placed into a group containing no AFC, CONCACAF, or CONMEBOL teams.

Finally, placement for teams in Pots 2-4 was chosen in advance. For instance, in Group A, Mexico will play a Pot 3 team first, followed by a Pot 2 team, and finally a Pot 4 team. In Group B, Canada will play a Pot 4 team, then a Pot 3 team, and finally a Pot 2 team.

The draw will be held on FRI 05 DEC 2025 in Washington, DC, United States. FIFA will publish the full match schedule, including kickoff times and venues, the following day.

• Pot 1: Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Canada [Group B], England, France, Germany, Mexico [Group A], Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, United States [Group D]
• Pot 2: Australia, Austria, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, Iran, Japan, Korea Rep, Morocco, Senegal, Switzerland, Uruguay
• Pot 3: Algeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, South Africa, Tunisia, Uzbekistan
• Pot 4: Cabo Verde, Curaçao, Ghana, Haiti, Jordan, New Zealand, Winners UEFA playoff finals A-D, Winners interconfederation playoff finals 1-2