The 2026 World Cup draw on Dec. 5 will reward the four highest-ranked teams -- Spain, Argentina, France and England -- who will be placed in separate sections of a new tennis-style seeded tournament bracket.
FIFA said Tuesday the top four teams in the latest men's rankings will, if they finish top of their respective round-robin groups, avoid each other until the semifinals of the June 11-July 19 tournament being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Defending champion Argentina with Lionel Messi and top-ranked European champion Spain with Lamine Yamal therefore can ensure they do not meet until the final at MetLife Stadium near New York.
At previous World Cups, the path for teams into and through the knockout phase was decided by which group they were drawn into.
The draw, to be held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., will see 48 teams placed into four pots from which they will be drawn into 12 groups of four teams. An updated match schedule, assigning each match to a stadium with its respective kick-off time, will be released on Saturday, Dec. 6. The draw is scheduled to take about 45 minutes during a show lasting about an hour and a half, FIFA said.
The three host countries have been placed into Pot 1 along with the nine highest-ranked countries based on FIFA's rankings. These include Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
The 42 teams that already qualified include Iran and Haiti which FIFA expects will play exactly where they are drawn regardless of complicated politics those countries have with the U.S. The 16 host venues for the 104 games include 11 cities with NFL stadiums in the U.S., three in Mexico and two in Canada.
The other six entries will be decided in March when European and global playoffs brackets are scheduled, and those teams all will come out of the draw pot of lowest-ranked teams.
That means four-time champion Italy could be a dangerous option in the draw on Friday of next week that will set the match schedule by placing teams in 12 round-robin groups of four teams each.
For pot 1, Canada, Mexico and the United States, as the host countries, will be identified by different colored balls and, when drawn, will be assigned to position A1 for Mexico (green ball), B1 for Canada (red ball) and D1 for the USA (blue ball).
The remaining nine top-ranked teams in pot 1 will be identified by nine balls of the same color and automatically allocated to position 1 of the group into which they are drawn.
The next 12 highest-ranked teams will go into Pot 2.
These include Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria and Australia.
The next 12 highest teams will go into Pot 3, and will be comprised of Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.
The remaining teams will go in Pot 4 along with the six winners of the intercontinental playoffs. This pot includes Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curacao, Haiti and New Zealand.
The four intercontinental playoff winners will include four teams from UEFA and two teams from elsewhere.
The draw will take place in a manner by which teams from the same confederation cannot be placed in the same group. The exception to this is Europe due to the fact that there are more European teams (16) than there are groups (12).
This will result in four groups having two European teams with the remainder having one team from Europe.
To ensure competitive balance, top-ranked Spain and second-ranked Argentina will be randomly drawn and placed in groups in opposite pathways. The same will apply to the third and fourth-highest ranked teams (France and England). This ensures that should they each win their group, the two highest ranked teams cannot meet before the final.
The U.S., which had previously been placed in Group D, will face a team from Pot 3 in its opening game on June 12 in Inglewood, Calif. That will be followed by a match against a team from Pot 2 on June 19 at Lumen field in Seattle, with its group stage finale taking place against a team from Pot 4 back in Inglewood. For the USMNT, the most difficult game will likely be the second match with a team from Pot 2.
Along similar lines, Mexico, which has been placed in Group A, will open the tournament on June 11 against a team from Pot 3 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, followed by matches against a team from Pot 2 on June 18 at the Estadio Akron outside Guadalajara, and their final group stage match six days later against team from Pot 4 back in Mexico City
Canada will have a slightly different schedule. It will open the tournament on June 12 at BMO Field in Toronto against a team from Pot 4. Its second match will be in Vancouver six days later against a team from Pot 3, with the group stage finale against a team from Pot 2 also in Vancouver.
World Cup draw pots
Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, IR Iran, Korea Republic, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Cte d'Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
Pot 4: Jordan, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Curaao, Haiti, New Zealand, European Playoff A, B, C and D, FIFA Playoff Tournament 1 and 2
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
