WASHINGTON, D.C. — The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup happens Friday at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
FIFA will randomly divide the 48-team field into 12 groups of four. We won’t know which matches are being played where until Saturday. That includes the eight matches that Atlanta will host at Mercedes-Benz Stadium next summer.
Here’s what you need to know about the 2026 World Cup format and today’s draw.
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HOW MANY TEAMS QUALIFIED?
The FIFA Men’s World Cup expanded to 48 teams this year. We already know 42 of the 48 teams who have qualified. The United States, Canada and Mexico automatically qualified as the tournament hosts.
The other six spots will be the four European teams that win the UEFA playoffs and two teams that win the inter-confederation playoffs.
HOW ARE THE GROUPS SELECTED?
FIFA will draw from four different pots of 12 teams to form Groups A-L.
- Pot 1: Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, United States, Mexico, Canada
- 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, UEFA Playoff A, UEFA Playoff B, UEFA Playoff C, UEFA Playoff D, FIFA Playoff 1, FIFA Playoff 2.
The host countries have already been assigned their groups with Mexico in Group A, Canada in Group B and the United States in Group D.
There are some additional caveats for where teams are placed. Each group must have at least one European team, but can’t have more than two. The other confederations can’t have two teams in the same group. So you won’t see teams like Argentina and Colombia in the same group.
HOW DOES THE TOURNAMENT WORK?
The 48 teams will be separated into 12 groups of four to form the bracket. Here’s how each round works.
- Group Stage (June 11-27): All four teams in each group will play each other once. A win earns a team three points, a draw 1 point and a loss zero points. The top two teams from each group will advance along with eight third-place teams.
- Knockout Round of 32 (June 28-July 3): This is when the tournament goes to single-elimination. No group winners will face each other. Of the 32 teams, 16 will advance to the next round.
- Round of 16 (July 4-July 7): The field goes down to eight teams.
- Quarterfinals (July 9-11): Only four teams will advance to the next round.
- Semifinals (July 14 and July 14): It’s down to the final four teams. The two winners will advance to the FIFA World Cup Final and the losers will play in third-place match. Atlanta will host one of the semifinals.
- Finals: The third-place match will be take place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on July 18. The FIFA World Cup Final will take place at MetLife Stadium in New York on July 19.
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