On Friday, the draw for the 2026 World Cup groups will take place! Format changes and the new knockout phase

The draw for the 2026 World Cup will be held at the Kennedy Center in Washington at 12:00 local time on Friday, December 5 (18:00 Albanian time). Based on previous draws, there will be some speeches, some dances, and a few videos of children kicking a ball to show that FIFA is once again close to bringing world peace through football.

The number of participating teams will increase from 32 to 48, and the tournament will be held for the first time in three countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico, extending its duration to five weeks (June 11–July 19, 2026). The 48 teams are divided into four pots of 12 teams each. Pot 1 consists of the three co-hosts, the USA, Mexico, and Canada along with the top nine teams in the current FIFA rankings.

The next three pots were determined by the FIFA rankings, with the lowest-ranked qualified teams placed in Pot 4. The 12 World Cup groups will then be formed with one team from each pot (according to the draw balls). The top two teams from each group will qualify, along with the eight best third-place teams across all groups. This will determine the 32 teams that advance to the next round.

The knockout rounds will feature “paired favorites,” who will avoid each other if they finish first in their groups. This applies to Spain and Argentina, ranked first and second in the FIFA rankings, as well as France and England. If they advance from the group stage as group winners, each will go to a different side of the bracket, away from their strongest paired rival. The round of 32 is also new, meaning there will be one more knockout round than before. In other words, to become world champion, a team will have to play eight matches instead of seven.

Pot allocations for the draw:

Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany.

Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia.

Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa.

Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, four European play-off teams, two intercontinental play-off teams.

Note: Each group will consist of four teams, with one team from each pot.

Play-off matches:

The play-off matches, which will determine the final six teams that qualify for the tournament, will be played at the end of March 2026. Albania will play in Warsaw against Poland, while Kosovo will play in Bratislava against Slovakia.

“KORÇA BOOM”