{"id":1821,"date":"2025-10-31T19:26:49","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T19:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=1821"},"modified":"2025-10-31T19:26:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T19:26:49","slug":"2026-world-cup-group-stage-draw-how-to-watch-how-does-it-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/?p=1821","title":{"rendered":"2026 World Cup Group Stage Draw: How to Watch? How Does It Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            POPULAR SEARCHES\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"subnav-title ff-ffc bold fs-23 lh-25 uc pd-b-10\">\n            BROWSE BY\n          <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Your country has qualified for the 2026 World Cup. You&#8217;re excited about seeing your nation play with the best of the best. \u00a0But the biggest question is, how will each team know their opponents?<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>The biggest edition ever of the world&#8217;s marquee sporting event is next summer, running from June 11 through July 19, 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Several teams have booked their spots, and plenty more will do in the coming weeks. Once the field is set, the next phase will be dividing up the 48 places into 12 groups of four. \u00a0From there, it&#8217;ll be about reaching the knockout stage with an eye on the final.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>So let&#8217;s answer some questions about how the draw will work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9><strong>JUMP TO: <\/strong><strong>Time\/Date<\/strong><strong> | <\/strong><strong>Seeds<\/strong><strong> | <\/strong><strong>Procedure<\/strong><strong> | <\/strong><strong>Co-Hosts<\/strong><strong> | <\/strong><strong>Pots<\/strong><strong> | <\/strong><strong>Playoffs<\/strong><strong> | <\/strong><strong>Schedule<\/strong><strong> | <\/strong><strong>Qualified Teams<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>The draw will be held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on December 5 at 12 p.m. ET\/9 a.m. PT.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>The 48 participating teams (or qualifying slots) will be placed into &#8220;pots&#8221; (seeded groups) based on criteria such as FIFA rankings and confederation constraints. We will know 42 of those 48 teams by December. The other six teams will be known by March 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>The three host nations (Canada, Mexico, and the United States) are already placed into specific groups to ensure their matches occur in their home country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Teams from the same qualification zone \u2014 except for the European confederation (UEFA) \u2014 cannot be drawn into the same group. So don&#8217;t expect two South American teams (CONMEBOL), for example, in the same group. However, you could see up to two UEFA teams in one.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span>Team names during the 2022 World Cup draw in Qatar. (Photo by Michael Regan &#8211; FIFA\/FIFA via Getty Images)<\/span> <\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Each team&#8217;s name is written on a slip of paper inside a plastic ball and put in large glass bowls (pots) numbered 1-4. A host will then draw one ball from each pot, open it up, and call out the country&#8217;s name.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>A computer then allocates each team drawn at random to its appropriate group based on the geographical restrictions in place for the event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>All teams will know who their group-stage opponents are, the locations of those matches, and how they could advance to the knockout rounds.<\/p>\n<p><span>The three mascots of the co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup. (FIFA\/Getty Imags)<\/span> <!--&gt;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>The three co-hosts of the 2026 World Cup are already placed in respective groups, even if we still don't know their opponents. This was done to ensure that the teams would play their group stage matches in their respective countries.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Group A: Canada, TBD, TBD, TBD<br \/>Group B: Mexico, TBD, TBD, TBD<br \/>Group D: United States, TBD, TBD, TBD<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9><strong>Pot 1\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Pot 1 will include the three host nations (United States, Canada, Mexico) plus the nine highest\u2010ranked qualified teams based on FIFA's rankings. As of now, those teams include some powerhouses: Spain, Argentina, France, England, Portugal, the Netherlands, Brazil, Belgium, and Italy. Of course, you have to <i>qualify<\/i> for the World Cup first. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9><strong>Pots 2, 3 &amp; 4<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>After Pot 1 is defined, the remaining qualified teams will be distributed in order into Pot 2, Pot 3 and Pot 4 based on their rankings. Each of these pots will also have 12 teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>When the draw is held in December, Pot 4 will also have six placeholders for the teams that will emerge from various playoff rounds across the globe that will be played in March. Two of those spots will come via an intercontinental playoff, and four will come from a playoff round featuring just European teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>Six teams will participate in a mini-tournament of their own to qualify for the big stage, with Europe (UEFA) not taking part in this event.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>The two teams with the highest FIFA rankings will get byes to the two separate finals. The other four teams will face each other to reach those finalists. The two teams to emerge from this playoff round will go to the World Cup.\u00a0\n\nAs for UEFA, it will have its own playoff tournament to finalize its four teams. Once the direct World Cup qualifiers are set for November, 12 teams move to a subsequent playoff round, joined by four other teams. These 16 teams will then be bracketed to clinch the remaining four World Cup spots in March 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9>These teams are in! Who else will join? Listed in alphabetical order:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"ff-h fs-16 lh-1pt6 mg-b-15 article-content\" data-v-b1ca39d9><i>Want great stories delivered right to your inbox?\u00a0<\/i><i><u>Create or log in to your FOX Sports account<\/u><\/i><i> and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!<\/i><\/p>\n\n--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POPULAR SEARCHES BROWSE BY Your country has qualified for the 2026 World Cup. You&#8217;re excited about seeing your nation play with the best of the best. \u00a0But the biggest question is, how will each team know their opponents? The biggest edition ever of the world&#8217;s marquee sporting event is next summer, running from June 11 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1820,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-soccer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/play-live.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}