Germany's Leroy Sane scores his side's fourth goal of the game during the FIFA World Cup European qualifying match between Germany and Slovakia at Red Bull Arena. Robert Michael/dpaDPATue, December 2, 2025 at 12:36 PM UTC·5 min readDespite a crucial place in the best pot for the 2026 World Cup draw, Germany could still be in for some unpleasant surprises.
The draw will not only set the first three match-ups of the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, but also the entire path to a potential final.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWhat's Germany's starting position?
With a 6-0 win over Slovakia in their final qualifying match, Germany secured not only a direct ticket to the World Cup but also a place in pot 1 for the draw. This is important because it means that Germany will not face the best ranked national teams in the world in the group stage.
Pot 1 also includes Spain, world champions Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and the three hosts. These teams cannot face Germany until the knock-out stages at the earliest.
Which opponents pose the greatest threat in the worst-case scenario?
Nevertheless, there could still be some difficult or at least unpleasant group settings for Germany.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPot 2 contains strong teams from South America, such as Colombia and Uruguay. Pot 3, meanwhile, includes Norway, led by superstar Erling Haaland, and Egypt, with Liverpool star Mohamed Salah.
Pot 4 includes not only big underdogs such as Curaçao, Cape Verde and Jordan, but also will include all the teams that still have to secure their World Cup spot in the play-offs, including Denmark and four-time world champions Italy.
Germany could potentially be in a group with Colombia, Egypt and Italy, which would rightly be labelled a classic "group of death".
What would an easy World Cup path look like?
But coach Julian Nagelsmann and his players could get lucky and end up in a very easy group. Pot 2 includes Austria and Australia, pot 3 includes World Cup newcomers such as Uzbekistan, and pot 4 includes New Zealand. A group with Iran, Tunisia and Haiti, for example, would be, in theory, an easier path.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHow does the new World Cup format work and how is the draw conducted?
The expansion from 32 to 48 World Cup teams is a project initiated by FIFA President Gianni Infantino. He aims to bring football to every corner of the globe. Critics argue, however, that 104 matches instead of 64 is excessive.
The tournament will now be played in 12 groups of four teams instead of eight, followed by a first knock-out round for the group winners, runners-up and eight best third-placed teams. After that, the usual format will continue from the round of 16 to the final on July 19 in New York.
For the draw, the 42 qualified teams were divided into four pots according to their position in the FIFA ranking, with the top nine and the three hosts in pot one.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn Friday, the teams from pot 1 will be drawn first as head of the groups, then pots 2 to 4 will be emptied.
It has been already established that Maxico will head Group A, Canada will be in Group B and US are in Group D.
Teams from the same confederation may not be in the same group, but the Europeans are an exception. With 16 participants, there will be two European nations in four groups and one in each of the other eight.
There's also a new rule: the highest-ranked team (Spain) and the second highest-ranked team (Argentina) will be randomly drawn into opposite pathways, and the same principle will apply to the third (France) and fourth (England) highest-ranked teams.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis will ensure that, should they win their groups, the two highest-ranked teams will not meet before the final. This rule has no influence on Germany's World Cup path in the draw.
What else will Nagelsmann learn in Washington?
Not only the opponents are important, but also the venues. Long journeys and high temperatures make the tournament complicated.
Matches in Mexico, for example, are not on Nagelsmann's wish list – in Groups F and K, such games would not be mandatory, but they are possible.
There are a total of 11 venues in the US, three in Mexico and two in Canada. The vast majority of matches (78) will take place in the US, with 13 each in the other two host countries.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHowever, the venues and kick-off times won't be set immediately after the draw. FIFA will determine these by Saturday to guarantee the best possible broadcasting times for fans of all teams and to possibly play matches at US lunchtime in arenas with roofs.
What can be expected from Donald Trump?
So far, US President Donald Trump has hardly missed an opportunity to use the mega-event as a stage for himself.
His appearance at Chelsea's victory ceremony at the Club World Cup last summer was particularly memorable and labelled as bizarre by many. Some Chelsea players also looked annoyed with Trump's presence in their celebration.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe White House confirmed that Trump will be in attendance on Friday. Whether he will be there as a guest or have an active participation.
Recently, there's been speculation that Trump could receive the newly created FIFA Peace Prize, which the world football governing body wants to give to "individuals who have taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace and by doing so have united people across the world," it said.
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