Dylan Mangan
Published December 1, 2025 3:56pm
Updated December 1, 2025 3:57pm
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48 teams will fight to get their hands on the Jules Rimet trophy. (Picture: Getty)
Get your wallcharts ready: England and Scotland are getting ready to watch the FIFA World Cup 2026 draw as fans and players look ahead to next summer’s tournament.
Managers Thomas Tuchel and Steve Clarke will be watching in anticipation as they look forward to what will be the biggest tournament in history, with a record 48 teams participating across 16 stadiums in three countries.
While factors like soaring summer temperatures and long distances to travel will be of concern, this week all eyes will be on Washington DC as delegates from football federations converge to find out their fate.
Next year’s tournament features more games than ever, a brand new format and a tennis-style seeding system that could benefit England as they progress through the tournament.
A total of 108 games will take place to eventually crown the next World Cup champions in the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey next summer – this is how the draw will work, including where to watch it and the all-important pots and seeds.
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When is the draw? Date and UK start time
The draw for the 2026 World Cup takes place on Friday December 5, 2025. The draw will begin at 12pm local time – 5pm in the UK.
We're officially in @FIFAWorldCup draw week! 😍 pic.twitter.com/QQHbIBZLYu
— England (@England) December 1, 2025
How will the draw work? Pots and seedings
Friday’s draw will confirm the groups and fixtures for all 48 teams set to compete at the tournament. 42 of the spots at the World Cup have been filled with UEFA and inter-confederation playoffs taking place in March to decide the six remaining spots.
There are 12 groups of four at the World Cup, with each group consisting of one team from each of the four seeded pots.
England are included in Pot 1, along with reigning champions Argentina and hosts Canada, Mexico and USA. Scotland have been allocated a place in Pot 3 after confirming their qualification in dramatic style last month.
A new, tennis-style seeding system has been introduced this year that means the top two teams in the current FIFA rankings – Spain and Argentina – will be on opposite sides of the draw, as well as the third and fourth-ranked sides in France and England.
If each of those four countries tops their respective group, they will be placed in separate parts of the 32-team knockout phase. It means England would avoid Spain or Argentina until a potential semi-final, while they would not face France unless both sides reach the final.
Confirmed World Cup draw teams and pots
Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany.
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia.
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Cote d’Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa.
Pot 4: Jordan, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Curacao, Haiti, New Zealand, European play-off winners from path A, B, C, D, and FIFA inter-confederation play-off winners 1 and 2.
European play-off teams and fixtures:
Path A: Winner of Wales/Bosnia & Herzegovina vs winner of Italy/Northern Ireland.
Path B: Winner of Ukraine/Sweden vs winner of Poland/Albania.
Path C: Winner of Slovakia/Kosovo vs winner of Turkiye/Romania.
Path D: Winner of Czechia/Republic of Ireland vs winner of Denmark/North Macedonia.
Each semi-final takes place on March 26, 2026, with the play-off finals scheduled for March 31, 2026.
FIFA inter-confederation play-off teams and fixtures:
Path 1: Winner of New Caledonia/Jamaica vs DR Congo.
Path 2: Winner of Bolivia/Suriname vs Iraq.
Games will take place in a one-off playoff tournament in Mexico on March 26 and March 31, 2026.
The European Play-Offs for the #FIFAWorldCup 🌍Which four are headed to #WeAre26? 🙌 pic.twitter.com/ssnMXLRgYB
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 20, 2025
Can England and the other home nations be drawn together?
England’s position in Pot 1 and Scotland’s in Pot 3 means they could be drawn in the same group on Friday.
However, due to the rule meaning only two teams from the same confederation can be in the same group, if England were to be drawn against another European team from Pot 2, then Scotland can’t be put into the same group.
Scotland’s John McGinn (L) and Kenny McLean celebrate after qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1990. (Picture: SNS)
If they aren’t drawn together, England and Scotland could face one of Northern Ireland, Wales or the Republic of Ireland if they make it through the playoff round.
All three countries would be put into Pot 4 if they qualify and will know ahead of time who their potential World Cup opponents will be.
As Northern Ireland and Wales are both competing in the same side of the play-off draw, only one of them will be able to qualify for the World Cup.
Where is the draw being held and who will be attending?
The World Cup draw is being held in the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, which traditionally hosts different types of performance art, from theatre and jazz to opera and orchestral music.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino will be joined by USA President Donald Trump at the draw, who is widely expected to be the recipient of FIFA’s brand new award: ‘FIFA Peace Prize – Unite the World.’
FIFA President Gianni Infantino shows US President Donald Trump the World Cup Trophy in the Oval Office as Vice President JD Vance looks on. (Picture: Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
Delegates from the English and Scottish FAs will attend, along with those of all the countries set to compete, with one major omission.
Iran are set to boycott the World Cup draw after learning that their federation’s President, Mehdi Taj did not receive a visa to allow him to enter the USA.
‘We are evaluating our options, which will depend on timing and circumstances,’ Taj told Iranian television last week. ‘The current position of the Iran Football Federation executive committee is that no one will attend the event unless all visas are issued.’
How to watch on a TV channel and live stream
The draw will be broadcast on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in the UK, and will be available to livestream directly on FIFA.com and FIFA’s YouTube channel globally.
𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐩 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: Pre-Draw Predictions 📈Ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 draw on Friday 5 December, the Opta supercomputer has produced it’s early predictions for this summer’s tournament in North America. Here are the results. pic.twitter.com/3Spwslmxrr
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) December 1, 2025
When does the World Cup start?
The opening game of the 2026 World Cup will take place between hosts Mexico and another of their group stage opponents at the Mexico City Stadium on June 11, 2026 – it will be the third time the iconic stadium has hosted the first game of a World Cup, the first to do so.
Aerial view of the remodeling works at the Azteca stadium in Mexico City, as it is being renovated to host the inauguration of the 2026 World Cup. (Picture: Getty)
Hosts Mexico, Canada and the USA will all play their three group-stage games on home soil – Canada’s first game takes place on Friday, June 12 in Toronto, while USA will begin their World Cup journey on the same day in Los Angeles.
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While it remains to be seen when and where exactly England will kick off their tournament, each of the 16 stadiums at the World Cup have been allocated into one of three ‘regions’: Western, Central and Eastern, with teams to play all their group stage games in the same region to minimise travel for players and fans.
Where are the World Cup stadiums?
Western region: Vancouver, Seattle, San Fransico, Los Angeles.
Central region: Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey, Houston, Dallas, Kansas City.
Eastern region: Atalanta, Miami, Toronto, Boston, Philadelphia, New York.
So while we will find out England’s exact fixtures, and potential route to the final on Friday, for now we know their games will take place in one of those three regions.
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