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The 48 nations competing at the 2026 World Cup will know their group stage opponents when the draw takes place on December 5.
there will be a tournament First to feature 48 teamsQatar will also have the first World Cup, expanded from 32, and hosted by three countries. The majority of the Games (78) will be hosted in the United States, while Mexico and Canada will host 13 Games each.
The World Cup begins on June 11 at Mexico’s historic Azteca Stadium, scene of Brazil’s glory in the Pele-inspired 1970 and Argentina’s success in the Diego Maradona-inspired 1986. It will conclude with the final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Here’s everything you need to know.
When is the group-stage draw?
The draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place on Friday 5 December at 12pm local time (5pm GMT) at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. US President Donald Trump is expected to be present.
How does the draw work?
The 48 countries will be divided into 12 groups, each consisting of four teams, one from each of the four draw pots.
Pot One will feature the nine top nations in the FIFA world rankings that have qualified for the tournament, in addition to the three host nations – the United States, Canada and Mexico. Pots two, three and four will consist of the next 12 best ranked teams so that, in theory, the groups will be balanced and the best teams will be kept apart until the knockout rounds.
Teams from the same confederation will be placed separately in the group stage, except in Europe where there are more teams (13) than in the group (12). There will be no more than two European nations in any group.
How to advance to the knockout rounds
The top two finishers in each group will automatically qualify for the last 32, along with the eight best third-placed teams.
The ranking of the third-placed teams will be determined based on points, then goal difference, then goals scored. If two or more teams are still tied, the “team conduct score” will come into play (a yellow card is minus one point, a red card through two yellow cards is minus three points, and a straight red card is minus four points). If there is still a tie, the team with the highest world ranking will advance.
How are World Cup places allocated?
Each continental confederation has a certain number of countries participating in the World Cup. Europe has the maximum number of 13 teams and Africa has five teams. Play-offs between other confederations will decide how many of their teams are represented in the tournament.
UEFA (Europe): 13th place
CAF (Africa): 5 places
AFC (Asia): 4-5 place
CONMEBOL (South America): 4-5 places
CONCACAF (North America): 3rd-4th place
OFC (Oceania): 0-1st place
Which teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup?
Australia
iran
Japan
Jordan (1st)
south korea
Uzbekistan (first time)
Algeria
egypt
ghana
morocco
tunisia
Canada (co-host)
Mexico (co-host)
United States (co-host)
argentina
brazil
Colombia
Ecuador
paraguay
uruguay
new zealand