The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, with next year’s tournament opening in Mexico City on June 11th.
FIFA announced all 12 groups, including 42 teams, at a ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington, but will not release the full calendar until Saturday.
For example, it would take an extra day for European teams to adjust their schedules and adjust game time slots to play at times more convenient for European audiences.
Six of the teams participating in the World Cup have not yet been decided and are not expected to be known until March 2026. Four of the teams will be decided in the UEFA Playoffs, and the remaining two teams will be decided in the FIFA Playoffs tournament.
Let’s take a look at the breakdown of all 12 groups.
Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, UEFA Playoffs D
Group B: Canada, Qatar, Switzerland, UEFA Playoffs A
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti
Group D: USA, Paraguay, Australia, UEFA Playoff C
Group E: Germany, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Curacao
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, UEFA Playoffs B
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Group H: Spain, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Cape Verde
Group I: France, Senegal, Norway, FIFA Playoffs 2
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Group K: Portugal, Uzbekistan, Colombia, FIFA Playoffs 1
Group L: England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana
The six playoff paths are:
UEFA Playoffs A: Italy, Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Northern Ireland
UEFA Playoffs B: Ukraine, Poland, Albania, Sweden
UEFA Playoffs C: Türkiye, Slovakia, Kosovo, Romania
UEFA Playoffs D: Denmark, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland, North Macedonia
FIFA Playoffs 1: Democratic Republic of Congo, Jamaica, New Caledonia
FIFA Playoffs 2: Iraq, Bolivia, Suriname
Newcomer to the World Cup
Next year will feature a record 48 teams, with Cape Verde, Jordan, Uzbekistan and Curaçao competing in soccer’s premier event for the first time, with the tournament to be held from June 11 to July 19 at 16 venues across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Games will be played at 11 NFL stadiums, three in Mexico and two in Canada, and construction is underway to add 17,000 temporary seats to BMO Field, increasing capacity to about 45,000. The record number of visitors was 3.59 million in 1994.
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said: “I’m quite optimistic because to qualify we need to beat other teams in the federation and that shows quality.”
“It’s no coincidence that the team was there.”
All of the top 11 teams in the world rankings have qualified, with Italy in first place out of 22 countries participating in the playoffs, where the final six spots will be decided on March 31st.
Argentina, led by captain Lionel Messi, are aiming to become the first country to win back-to-back World Cups since Brazil in 1958 and 1962. Messi will aim to extend his record of 26 appearances and take his total to 13 World Cup goals, three shy of Miroslav Klose’s record.
FIFA announced initial ticket prices from $60 to $6,370 (51 euros to 5,473 euros) and said prices would vary. It has so far declined to release a full price list, as it has done for other World Cups since at least 1990.
The governing body is also selling parking tickets for a single semi-final game in Arlington, Texas, for up to $175 (€150).
FIFA spokesman Brian Swanson asked FIFA president Gianni Infantino to discuss ticket prices, but did not receive a response.
In the Opta Analyst computer project, the chance of the host country USA winning is 0.9%. No American team has advanced to the semifinals since the first World Cup in 1930.
Spain topped the forecast with 17%, followed by France (14.1%), England (11.8%), Argentina (8.7%), Germany (7.1%), Portugal (6.6%), Brazil (5.6%) and the Netherlands (5.2%).
