How does World Cup 2026 work in new 48-team format?
How will the World Cup 2026 draw work?
- The draw for World Cup 2026 is taking place today, Friday, December 5, at 5pm UK time/12pm EST.
- The 48 nations competing will be divided into 12 groups containing four teams each, one from each of the four draw pots.
- Pot one will contain the three host nations – USA, Canada and Mexico – plus the nine top countries in the Fifa world rankings who have qualified for the tournament. Mexico have been already been assigned Group A, Canada to Group B and the USA to Group D.
- Pots two, three and four will contain the next 12 best-ranked sides in order so that, theoretically, the groups will be balanced and the best teams will be kept separate until the knockout rounds.
- Teams from the same confederation will be kept apart in the group stage, except for Europe where there are more teams (16) than groups. No group will have more than two European nations.