2026 FIFA World Cup Final Draw Set for Friday in Washington

The 2026 FIFA World Cup final draw will be held on Friday, 5 December 2025, at 7 PM CAT in Washington, USA, as teams discover their group stage opponents ahead of football’s global showpiece.

The draw will be led by former Manchester United and England defender Rio Ferdinand, 47, alongside broadcaster Samantha Johnson. They will be joined by sporting icons including Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, Aaron Judge, and Shaquille O’Neal.

So far, 42 of the 48 teams have secured their spots:

Co-hosts: Canada, Mexico, USA

AFC: Australia, IR 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

The remaining six teams will be confirmed in March 2026. Four will come from the UEFA 16-team play-offs, which feature Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, Denmark, Italy, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, North Macedonia, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Türkiye, Ukraine, and Wales. The final two spots will be decided in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off Tournament, contested by Bolivia, Congo DR, Iraq, Jamaica, New Caledonia, and Suriname.

The 48 teams have been divided into four pots of 12, mainly according to FIFA world rankings. Exceptions include the hosts, automatically in Pot 1, and play-off qualifiers, placed in Pot 4.

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, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, UEFA Play-Offs A-D, FIFA Play-Off Tournament 1-2

The draw will begin with Pot 1 teams, assigned to groups A to L, followed by Pots 2, 3, and 4. The three hosts will be distinguished by coloured balls: Mexico (green) to A1, Canada (red) to B1, and USA (blue) to D1, in line with the match schedule released on 4 February 2024. The remaining nine Pot 1 teams will occupy position 1 in their drawn groups.

Fans can watch live coverage on FIFA.com, FIFA World Cup social media channels, and SuperSport TV.