2026 World Cup Draw: Confirmed Qualified Nations and Projected Pots

Marrakech – The build-up to the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States has started. 

After the November 10-18 international break, which marked the final rounds of direct qualifiers across continental footballing federations, we now know the general outlook of the 2026 World Cup Draw, with 42 of the 48 participating nations confirmed.

The draw is set to happen at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on December 5. It will determine group stage opponents as well as the knock-out stage bracket.

In a new 48-team World Cup format, the teams will be split into 12 groups of four nations each. The top two finishing teams, as well as the eight best-performing third-placed teams, will proceed to the first knockout stage: the Round of 32. 

Each of the 12 groups will contain one team from Pots 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. The host countries, Canada, Mexico, and the US, are automatically placed in Pot 1 and already have pre-determined groups, while the remainder qualifying nations will be determined based on FIFA’s latest Men’s World Ranking.  

Here is how the pots are expected to shape up after FIFA’s update.  

Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, United States, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany

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

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

Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curacao, New Zealand, Haiti, UEFA Playoffs Winner 1*, UEFA Playoffs 2, UEFA Playoffs Winner 3, UEFA Playoffs Winner 4, Inter-confederation Playoffs Winner 1, Inter-confederation Play-Off Winner 2

Pending FIFA confirmation, the six teams qualifying through the playoffs in March are expected to be placed in Pot 4 during the draw, based on previous FIFA practices. 

UEFA Playoffs

UEFA will be the most represented continental federation at the 2026 World Cup, with 16 European teams set to participate. 

While 12 are currently known, the remainder four will be determined through UEFA’s qualification playoffs that will be held in March 2026. 

These teams are still in the hunt for a #FIFAWorldCup spot 👀#WeAre26 pic.twitter.com/0R0BAB3Zxq

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 19, 2025

The playoffs will be contested through two rounds: the semi-finals will take place on March 26, while the finals are set for March 31. 

Match-ups and brackets will be drawn on Thursday, November 20, at 1 p.m. (GMT+1).

Here is how the pots shape up for the UEFA qualification playoffs.

Pot 1: Italy, Denmark, Turkey, Ukraine

Pot 2: Poland, Wales, Czech Republic, Slovakia

Pot 3: Ireland, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo

Pot 4: Romania, Sweden, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland 

Inter-confederation Playoffs

Six teams from the AFC (Iraq), CAF (Congo DR), CONCACAF (Jamaica & Suriname), CONMEBOL (Bolivia), and OFC (New Caledonia) will compete for the two remaining World Cup qualification spots. 

Similar to the European tournament, the Inter-confederation Playoffs will also be contested through two rounds: semi-finals and finals. 

The Democratic Republic of Congo, recent winners over Nigeria, will receive an automatic bye to the final round, alongside Iraq, a decision based on the participants’ FIFA rankings.

The matches will be played during the upcoming international break from March 23 to March 31, 2026.