How dos the World Cup draw 2026 work? Format, rules and more

The 2026 World Cup draw is here, with Friday’s FIFA event revealing which groups will be playing in next year’s soccer tournament. Will the USMNT have an easy path out of the group stages? Which one will be the so-called “group of death”?

We’ll find all of that out soon enough, after all the pageantry involving celebrities, performances and so much more at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

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If you’re here, you might be wondering: How does the World Cup draw work, exactly? You’ve come to the right place. We’re going to break it down step by step with the rules and format.

The 48 teams are divided into four pots of 12 teams each

Using FIFA’s World Rankings, here are those pots:

The rule is: Teams in the same pot aren’t allowed to face each other in the group stage. So each group will have one team from each pot.

The United States, Mexico and Canada already have their groups

As hosts, their groups are set.

Here’s how the World Cup draw will work

Starting with Pot 1, teams will be assigned one to each group from A to L. That’s repeated for the other three pots.

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Is there any seeding involved in the World Cup draw?

In this case, yes. The four top seeds (Spain, Argentina, France and England) won’t be allowed to play each other until the World Cup semifinals.

Can two countries from the same confederation be in the same group?

No, but because there are so many European teams, that’s the exception.

Which teams are in the 2026 World Cup?

Per USA TODAY Sports:

  • Co-hosts: Canada, Mexico, USA

  • AFC: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Korea Republic, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan

  • CAF: Algeria, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia

  • Concacaf: Curaçao, Haiti, Panama

  • CONMEBOL: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay

  • OFC: New Zealand

  • UEFA: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland

You’ll note that’s 42 of the 48 teams. There are still six teams that will be decided by playoffs.

Who are the placeholder teams in the 2026 World Cup draw?

They’re made up of the teams who are in the UEFA playoffs:

There you have it!

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This article originally appeared on For The Win: World Cup draw 2026 format, rules for FIFA event

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