The World Cup draw is here – this is how it will work

The 2026 World Cup finals draw on Friday will not be straightforward due to pots, quadrants, confederation restrictions, group position grids, and other factors.

There’s a lot to unpack so we’re going to explain it as simply as we can.

Thankfully, Fifa will have a computer to handle the majority of the work and ensure smooth operation. Even so, Uefa discovered in 2021 that technology occasionally malfunctions.

Let’s hope there will be no gremlins in Washington once the draw ceremony kicks off.

The 5 December ceremony begins at 17:00 GMT (12:00 local time), but the glitzy event will involve much more than just removing the nations from a hat.

Supermodel Heidi Klum, comedian Kevin Hart and actor and producer Danny Ramirez will co-host.

Andrea Bocelli, Robbie Williams, and Nicole Scherzinger will play live music before the draw, and US President Donald Trump and Fifa president Gianni Infantino are both scheduled to deliver speeches.

Then comes the video clips of the draw itself, the finalists, and their introductions.

Based primarily on the Fifa world rankings, the 48 teams have been placed into four 12-player pots.

The exceptions are the three hosts who are automatically in pot one, and the teams who will qualify through the six play-off paths, who go into pot four.

They have the potential to form some formidable groups given the four European play-off paths that some of the teams compete in.

If they had qualified directly, their world rankings would have placed Italy and Denmark in pot two, and Wales would have placed in pot three.

The six play-off paths are:

Italy, Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, and Uefa Play-off A

Ukraine, Poland, Albania, and Sweden are all in the Uefa Play-off B.

Uefa Play-off C: Turkey, Slovakia, Kosovo, Romania

Denmark, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland, and North Macedonia are in Uefa Play-off D.

Play-off 1 of the Fifa Play-Offs: Jamaica, New Caledonia, and DR Congo.

One team from each of the four pots will make up the 12 groups.

Fifa will start by drawing the teams from pot one.

Co-hosts Mexico (A1), Canada (B1), and the United States (D1) will have colored balls bearing their respective flags to represent their unique status. They are assigned to their respective group positions in order to ensure that they play all of their games in their home nations.

The main goal of Fifa is to create the best possible conditions for World Cup ties in the latter stages.

So for the first time it is giving special seeding status to the top four in the world rankings – Spain, Argentina, France and England.

Importantly, winning the groups will only make these nations eligible for this status.

Using England as an example, let’s examine how it will operate.

Each of the four countries will be drawn into a group in a different coloured quadrant of the bracket, as shown in the image below.

France (3) and England (2), as well as Spain (11) and Argentina (2), must not meet in the final frame and must not cross each other.

Before the semi-finals, France and England couldn’t face off against either Spain or Argentina.

Let’s say that France come out first and go into Group C, placing them into the green quadrant on the right side of the draw. In other words, groups E, F, G, H, or I can only be entered into England’s blue or turquoise quadrants on the left.

If Argentina then falls into the blue quadrant, G or H, the only other turquoise-groups that England can use, further restricting it.

Are the four seeds being given an easy ride? Not necessarily.

A potential last-16 tie between two group winners can be found in each quadrant. For instance, the blue quadrant has a meeting of the winners of Group E and Group I. A seeded team may encounter another pot-on side, say, Brazil.

Due to the lack of play for a group winner until the quarter-finals, it appears that being drawn into groups C, F, H, or J is potentially more advantageous.

If one of the four seeded teams finishes as group runners-up, then they lose the ranking privilege.

There can be no more than one team from the same confederation per group. For instance, Panama and the United States (Concacaf) and Brazil and Uruguay (Conmebol) cannot both be in the same group.

Due to the existence of only 12 groups and 16 teams, Uefa makes an exception. That means four groups will contain two European nations.

Although everything seems relatively straightforward, these restrictions will eventually lead to some serious problems because nations will skip groups to avoid clashes with rival teams from their own confederation.

That means that teams will not only be able to place in Group A, Group B, and Group C in order of drawing, but also in Group C.

When we get to pots three and four, it might seem like countries are being sent to random groups.

Fifa must stop deadlocking, a situation where completing the draw without breaking the rules is prohibited.

The main issue is between the teams who could potentially qualify through the inter-federation play-offs and enter the pot four.

Pathway 1 has New Caledonia (OFC), Jamaica (Concacaf) and DR Congo (CAF)

Bolivia (Conmebol), Suriname (Concacaf), and Iraq (AFC) are included in Pathway 2.

Since each of the four groups, which include the United States, Mexico, Canada, and Panama, automatically blocks them out of four groups due to the presence of a Concacaf team on both pathways.

The first pathway is less of problem, because the only other Oceania team, New Zealand, are also in pot four.

The computer will need to make sure there is at least one group consisting of two European teams or one European and one African nation when pot two are being drawn.

There will then be two draw options when pot three is complete.

If there is one group with two European nations in it, then Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia or the Ivory Coast must join it.

Norway or Scotland must join a group that includes an African and European country.

Both scenarios exist, and the draw computer will check whether one is filled as needed.

If we get to pot four and there is only one group which meets this criterion, pathway two will have to go into it.

The other pot-four teams will have their own deadlock restrictions, including the four potential play-off winners from Uefa, two from Concacaf, two from Africa, and one from Asia.

Due to the fact that 12 European teams will already have been drawn, the Uefa play-off paths, which include Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, will have only four group options.

According to the draw restrictions, a team will be placed in the first group that is still open once it has been chosen.

The draw computer will ensure Spain, Argentina, France and England are placed in groups in the correct quadrant of the bracket.

Countries won’t be asked to join their particular group positions to determine the order of the fixtures in order to speed up the process.

As shown in the image below, seeded nations will all be placed one, with a predetermined grid for each of the remaining pots.

For instance, let’s take Scotland in pot three. The yellow box will determine their fixture placement.

If they place first in Group A with Mexico, they will be drawn first out of pot three.

The grid shows the team from pot three will go into position two.

While nations will know their opponents and match dates on Friday, 5 December they will have to wait 24 hours to find out venues and kick-off times.

Groups A (Mexico), B (Canada), and D (US), which contain the three host countries and do not have kick-off times, are the only exceptions.

When Fifa releases the match schedule in a live broadcast on Saturday, December 6 at 17:00 GMT (12:00 local time), you’ll only be aware of the date and the order of matches for all other groups.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino will be joined on stage by legends of the game to discuss the key matches.

This order will be used for all 12 groups’ fixtures:

Matches on Day 1: 1 vs. 2, 3 v. 4, and 4.

Match Day 2: 1 v 3, 4 v 2