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The draw for the 2026 World Cup will be held in Washington today!

2025-12-05 08:54:59Sport SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Illustrative photo

The 2026 World Cup draw will take place today at the Kennedy Center in Washington at 12:00 local time (18:00 Albanian time). Based on previous draws, there will be several speeches, with Donald Trump in attendance, some performances by some of the biggest names in music and some videos of children kicking a ball to show that FIFA is on the verge of bringing world peace through football.

This edition will see the number of participating teams 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 (11 June - 19 July 2026). The 48 teams (42 have officially qualified) have been divided into four pots of 12 teams each. Pot 1 consists of the three co-hosts, the United States, 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 in Pot 4. The 12 groups for the World Cup will then be formed with one team from each pot (according to the draw numbers). So a group will have four teams.

The top two teams from each group will qualify directly, along with the eight best third-placed teams from all groups. This will determine the 32 teams that advance to the next round.

The knockout rounds will feature “pairs of favourites” who will avoid each other if they finish first in their groups. This is the case for Spain and Argentina, first and second in the FIFA rankings, and France and England. If they advance from the group stage as group winners, each will go to a different side of the group, not the side where their strongest partner will be placed.

The round of 16 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, compared to seven previously.

Dividing the pots 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.

Playoff matches

The play-offs that will determine the last six teams that will receive tickets to the final stage will be played at the end of March 2026. Albania plays in Warsaw against Poland, while Kosovo in Bratislava against Slovakia.

North American World Cup:

48 national

3 host countries

16 host cities

12 groups 104 matches: (72 in the group stage + 32 with direct elimination)

7 former champions qualified

5 debutant national teams

40 more matches than the previous edition

From June 11 to July 19, 2026


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