FIFA World Cup 2026 USA Draw: Everything you need to know
Perhaps the most highly awaited event in all of sports, the FIFA men's World Cup is only held every four years.
Although the United States, Canada, and Mexico have known since 2018 that they will co-host the 2026 tournament, supporters worldwide won't begin to believe it until the draw is finalized at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
A competition with 48 teams instead of only 32 will be unlike anything we've ever seen, and now that the group stage draw has begun, several additional tales that have been simmering beneath the surface may soon come to light.
Who’s playing? And who isn’t?
Of the 48 teams involved, 42 have secured their place in the tournament. Six more spots to soccer’s greatest spectacle will be determined in a series of playoff matches next spring. In the meantime, they’ll be drawn as placeholders: European Playoff winner A, B, C, D and FIFA Playoff winner 1 and 2.
Argentina will return as the defending champion, having comfortably topped its CONMEBOL qualifying group in South America. The 2018 champion France – who only lost the 2022 final on penalties – also looks strong. Defending European champion Spain is fancied to do well, as is defeated European finalist England.
Morocco is Africa's most successful World Cup side ever, having advanced to the semifinals in 2022, so it will be worth watching. The Atlas Lions may be destined to advance even deeper the next season after completely dominating their qualifying group.
After an almost three-decade hiatus, Scotland, Norway, and Austria will all be participating in the World Cup for the first time since 1998. For the first time since 1974, Haiti has qualified.
This year's edition will feature at least four first-timers. With a population of roughly 156,000, the tiny African island nation of Cape Verde, the even smaller Caribbean republic of Curaçao, and the Asian countries of Jordan and Uzbekistan are the smallest countries to ever participate in a World Cup.
Further debutants like New Caledonia or Suriname could emerge from the intercontinental playoffs, while Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia would be rookies if they could make it out of the European playoffs.
Shockingly, Nigeria, one of the African powerhouses, failed to qualify. And if the four-time champion Italy can’t make it through the playoffs, then the Azzurri will have failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.
How will the draw work?
The 48 teams will be drawn into 12 groups of four teams. Based on the latest FIFA rankings, the teams have been arranged into four pots, with each team from Pot 1 being drawn into one of the 12 groups, followed by each team from Pot 2 being drawn into one of the groups and so on.
The three co-hosts are considered top seeds and so they will avoid Spain, Argentina, England, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Brazil, Belgium and Germany. Mexico (A) Canada (B) and USA (D) already know which groups they will be drawn into, and they know the venues for their three group games.
There can only be two teams from European confederation UEFA in each group, and no other confederation can have more than one team in a group.
Once the draw is complete, the teams and their fans can map out potential routes to the final, with a better sense of the 16 host cities they might visit along the way.
What could the US’ draw look like?
With more than 20,000 group stage scenarios possible for every team, it’s pointless trying to guess how the draw will play out. But, in theory, the US men’s national team (USMNT) could draw Australia – the weakest team on paper in Pot 2 – South Africa would be the quote-unquote easiest opponent in Pot 3, avoiding tougher European or African opponents, and world No. 86 New Zealand would be a plum draw from Pot 4.
On the other hand, in a worst-case scenario, the Vatreni might draw with either Morocco or Croatia from Pot 2, who both advanced to the semifinals in 2022 and lost to France in the 2018 final.
Despite their rating of world No. 72, Ghana from Pot 4 might give the Americans some restless nights. Norway is the heavyweight team in Pot 3 and a side nobody would want to face, especially with prolific scorer Erling Haaland starring for the team. In the past 20 years, the two teams have faced off three times at the World Cup; in 2006 and 2010, the Black Stars defeated the USMNT.
Who will be the biggest star?
The usual suspects are already lining up and two of them will make history.
Argentina’s Lionel Messi will turn 39 during the tournament and Cristiano Ronaldo will be 41 by the time it kicks off; despite their advancing years both are still on top of their game and will be appearing in a record sixth World Cup tournament.
Manchester City star Haaland’s World Cup debut will be eagerly anticipated – he scored more goals in qualifying (16) than 33 European teams – and Lamine Yamal’s debut could also be spectacular. He’s still only 18, he’s been smashing records ever since he burst onto the international scene as a 16-year-old in 2023, and he’s already a European champion with Spain.
Watch out for the 27-year-old French captain Kylian Mbappé, who hopes to participate in his third straight World Cup final.
However, the most prominent player at this competition won't be playing much on the field. It may be the president of the United States instead.
The draw should finalize the tournament bracket and the host venue for each game, but as recently as last month Trump was still musing on what it would take to move games from cities that he deems to be unsafe.
It’s more likely that Trump is leveraging the World Cup to pressure mayors and governors in cities and states whose policies he doesn’t like, especially since FIFA has previously indicated it has ultimate say whether a host city is changed. But fans thinking of spending thousands of dollars to travel to Boston, Los Angeles or Seattle, for example, might think twice if they are concerned that the games will end up being played elsewhere.
