World Cup 2026 draw live: England, Scotland and United States discover group-stage opponents

The bizarre but surprising decision to lift the suspension that would have ruled Ronaldo out of Portugal’s opening World Cup games harms the integrity of the game that FIFA seeks to preserve above all else.

Some pre-drawing reading by Miguel Delaney in Washington DC:

The group matches of the host countries have already been decided. So, we know that for some reason Mexico will be in Group A, Canada will be in Group B, and the USA will be in Group…D.

Mexico will open the tournament in its capital city, before playing its fellow hosts in Toronto and LA the following day.

Mexico: June 11 (Mexico City), June 18 (Guadalajara) and June 24 (Mexico City).

Canada: June 12 (Toronto), June 18 (Vancouver) and June 24 (Vancouver).

United states usa: June 12 (Los Angeles), June 19 (Seattle) and June 25 (Los Angeles).

The draw will be conducted taking into account some additional requirements:

– Each group must contain at least one European team, but not more than two.

– Apart from UEFA (Europe), no two teams from the same confederation can be in the same group. The other confederations are AFC (Asia) and CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America) and OFC (Oceania).

Remember: Suriname plays in CONCACAF and Australia plays in the AFC, but New Zealand is part of the OFC, because nothing is ever that simple.

Finally, Pot 4 consists of the six lowest-ranked teams, including three newcomers, one of which is the small Caribbean island of Curaçao off the coast of Venezuela.

Ultimately six play-off winners will reach this pot – four from the UEFA play-offs and two from the intercontinental play-offs. More details on those fixtures soon.

• Jordan (66) – debut
• Cape Verde (68) – debut
• Ghana (72)
• Curaçao (82) – debut
• Haiti (84)
• New Zealand (86)
• UEFA PO winners: wales or Bosnia-Herzegovina or Italy or northern ireland
• UEFA PO Winner: Ukraine or Sweden or Poland or Albania
• UEFA PO Winner: Slovakia or Kosova or Türkiye 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 includes five African nations and two from the Middle East, plus debutant Uzbekistan. Scotland are also back on the World Cup stage after 28 years.

• 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 contains the next batch of teams qualified based on world ranking. It is a diverse country with only three European nations and most continental associations represented here – Australia is a recent entrant.

• 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)

So, here’s how the pots take shape.

Pot 1 consists of the top nine ranked countries and the three hosts. It’s fair to say that the teams in Pots 2, 3 and 4 might prefer to face Canada in the group stage rather than meeting some of the giants – even if it’s away from home.

• 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)

Of course, the 12 groups do not easily reach the knockout stage. Therefore, 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.

Gone are the old days of 32 teams forming eight groups of four each, with the top two teams qualifying for the knockout rounds. Now, the 48 countries will be divided into 12 groups, each with four teams, one from each of the four draw pots.

Pot One will consist of three host countries – usaCanada and Mexico – plus the top nine countries fifa World rankings who have qualified for the tournament. Mexico has already been assigned to Group A, Canada to Group B and USA to Group D.

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 (16) than groups. There will be no more than two European nations in any group.

this tournament will happen First to feature 48 teamsQatar will also have the first World Cup, expanded from 32, and hosted by three countries. Most of the 104 games will be staged usa (78), with Mexico And Canada Each hosting 13.

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