World Cup 2026 draw live: England, Scotland and hosts USA discover group-stage opponents and routes to final – UK Times

Pot 2 contains the next batch of qualified teams, based on world rankings. It is a diverse pot with only three European nations and most of the continental federations are representated here – Australia just snuck in.

• Croatia (10)
• Morocco (11)
• Colombia (13)
• Uruguay (16)
• Switzerland (17)
• Japan (18)
• Senegal (19)
• Iran (20)
• South Korea (22)
• Ecuador (23)
• Austria (24)
• Australia (26)

So, here is how the pots shape up.

Pot 1 contains the top nine ranked nations, plus the three hosts. It is fair to say that those teams in pots 2, 3 and 4 might prefer taking on Canada – even if it is away from home – in the group stage, rather than meeting some of the heavyweights.

• Mexico (co-host) (Current Fifa ranking: 15)
• Canada (co-host) (27)
• United States (co-host) (14)
• Spain (1)
• Argentina (2)
• France (3)
• England (4)
• Brazil (5)
• Portugal (6)
• Netherlands (7)
• Belgium (8)
• Germany (9)

Of course, 12 groups does not easily make for a knockout stage. So, the top two finishers in each group will qualify automatically for the last-32, along with the eight best third-placed teams.

The ranking of the third-placed teams will be determined by points, then goal difference, then goals scored. If two or more teams are still level, then “team conduct scores” will come into play (a yellow card is minus one point, a red card via two yellow cards is minus three points, and a straight red card is minus four). If still equal, the team with the highest world ranking will progress.

Gone are the simple old days of 32 teams making eight groups of four, with the top two qualifying for the knockout rounds. Now, the 48 nations will be divided into 12 groups containing four teams each, one from each of four draw pots.

Pot one will contain the three host nations – USA, Canada and Mexico – plus the nine top countries in the Fifa world rankings who have qualified for the tournament. Already, Mexico have been assigned Group A, Canada to Group B and the USA to Group D.

Pots two, three and four will contain the next 12 best-ranked sides in order so that, theoretically, the groups will be balanced and the best teams will be kept separate until the knockout rounds.

Teams from the same confederation will be kept apart in the group stage, except for Europe where there are more teams (16) than groups. No group will have more than two European nations.

This tournament will be the first to feature 48 teams, expanded from 32 in Qatar, and will also be the first World Cup to be hosted by three countries. The majority of 104 games will be staged in the USA (78), with Mexico and Canada hosting 13 each.

The World Cup will begin on 11 June, 2026 in Mexico’s historic Azteca Stadium, the scene of Brazil’s 1970 glory inspired by Pele and Argentina’s success in 1986 led by Diego Maradona. It will conclude with the final on 19 July at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

Hello and welcome along to live coverage of the World Cup 2026 draw.