What you need to know about FIFA World Cup Draw

It’s about to get very real for the Canadian men’s team. 

This week’s draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will determine Canada’s opponents for the opening group stage and its potential path through the knockout portion of the competition. 

Coach Jesse Marsch will know what Canada will be up against next summer come Friday, giving him six months to prepare his team as it attempts to improve upon its last showing at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar where it suffered three losses, scored just two goals and bowed out in the group stage. 

Here’s what you need to know about Friday’s draw (noon ET) taking place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. 

42 qualified teams so far 

Since 1998, the FIFA World Cup has been a 32-team tournament, but next year marks the expansion of the field to 48 nations. 

Thus far, 42 countries have qualified for the 2026 World Cup: 

Co-hosts: Canada, Mexico, United States 

AFC: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Qatar, Uzbekistan 

CAF: Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia 

Concacaf: Curaçao, Haiti, Panama 

CONMEBOL: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay 

OFC: New Zealand 

UEFA: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland 

Six nations still to qualify 

The final six berths will be determined early next year. 

Four European teams will emerge from the European playoffs, which run March 26-31 and involve 16 nations. 

Path A 

• Italy vs. Northern Ireland 

• Wales vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina 

• Final: Italy/Northern Ireland vs. Wales/Bosnia and Herzegovina 

Path B 

• Ukraine vs. Sweden 

• Poland vs. Albania 

• Final: Ukraine/Sweden vs. Poland/Albania 

Path C 

• Turkey vs. Romania 

• Slovakia vs. Kosovo 

• Final: Turkey/Romania vs. Slovakia/Kosovo 

Path D 

• Denmark vs. North Macedonia 

• Czechia vs. Republic of Ireland 

• Final: Czechia/Republic of Ireland vs. Denmark/North Macedonia 

The final two teams will be decided via the inter-confederation playoffs in Mexico, which also take place March 26-31. 

Pathway 1 

• Semifinal: New Caledonia vs. Jamaica 

• Final: New Caledonia/Jamaica vs. Congo DR 

Pathway 2 

• Semifinal: Bolivia vs. Suriname 

• Final: Bolivia/Suriname vs. Iraq 

The pots for Friday’s draw 

The draw will place each of the 48 teams into one of 12 first-round groups for next summer’s World Cup. The top two teams in each of the round-robin groups, plus the eight best third-place teams overall, will advance to the Round of 32. 

For Friday’s event, the 48 teams have been divided into four different pots. Each pot is sorted based on the FIFA world rankings published in November. 

Pot 1 consists of the three co-hosts and the top-nine ranked teams. Pots 2, 3 and 4 are made up of the remaining teams according to the world rankings. The four winners of the UEFA playoffs and the two winners of the inter-confederation playoffs won’t be determined until March 2026, so they have been placed into Pot 4. 

Here are the pots (FIFA ranking in brackets) 

Pot 1: Canada (No. 27), Mexico (15), United States (14), Spain (1), Argentina (2), France (3), England (4), Brazil (5), Portugal (6), Netherlands (7), Belgium (8), Germany (9) 

Pot 2: Croatia (No. 10), Morocco (11), Colombia (13), Uruguay (16), Switzerland (17), Japan (18), Senegal (19), Iran (20), South Korea (22), Ecuador (23), Austria (24), Australia (26) 

Pot 3: Norway (No. 29), Panama (30), Egypt (34), Algeria (35), Scotland (36), Paraguay (39), Tunisia (40), Ivory Coast (42), Uzbekistan (50), Qatar (51), Saudi Arabia (60), South Africa (61) 

Pot 4: Jordan (No. 66), Cape Verde (68), Ghana (72), Curaçao (82), Haiti (84), New Zealand (86), European Playoff A winner, European Playoff B winner, European Playoff C winner, European Playoff D winner, Inter-confederation Playoff 1 winner, Inter-confederation Playoff 2 winner.

How the draw works 

The draw will begin with all the teams from Pot 1 being drawn into groups A to L. It will then continue the same process with Pots 2, 3 and 4. 

All 12 groups — A through L — can have no more than one team from each region. That means, for instance, Canada (Pot 1) can’t be drawn into the same group as Haiti (Pot 4) because they both are from the Concacaf region. Likewise, South American teams Argentina (Pot 1) and Uruguay (Pot 2) can’t be drawn into the same group. The confederation restriction also applies to all three potential winners of the inter-confederation playoffs. 

But this restriction does not apply to UEFA nations — all 12 groups will have at least one European team and no more than two. 

The three host nations have been pre-drawn to three groups. Mexico has been placed in Group A and will play the opening match of the tournament at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca on June 11. Canada and the United States have been placed in Groups B and D. Canada will play its first game June 12 at Toronto’s BMO Field. The Canadians’ second and third matches will be staged at BC Place in Vancouver on June 18 and 24. 

Also, FIFA has also adopted a seeding system that ensures the four highest-ranked nations — Spain (No. 1), Argentina (No. 2), France (No. 3) and England (No. 4) — can’t meet until the semifinals of the World Cup, should each of them win their respective groups. 

What would be the easiest group for Canada?

If we’re going by FIFA rankings, then an ideal group draw for 27th-ranked Canada (Pot 1) would be No. 26 Australia (Pot 2), No. 36 Scotland (Pot 3) and No. 86 New Zealand (Pot 4). 

Another “easy” draw for Canada based on FIFA rankings would be No. 24 Austria (Pot 2), No. 61 South Africa (Pot 3), and New Zealand, or Australia, South Africa and No. 80 Kosovo (Pot 4), but that would require the Kosovans to be the European Playoff C winner. 

New Zealand is the lowest-ranked team among the 42 nations that have qualified for next summer and would be a heavy underdog against Canada. Scotland won its qualifying group, but it would be a far easier opponent for Canada compared to the other European teams who have qualified. Canada outranks both South Africa and Kosovo by considerable margins and would be considered heavy favourites. 

Austria and Australia are ranked higher than Canada, and the Canadians dropped a 1-0 decision to the Aussies in Montreal in October. But neither team is that loaded with star quality, and the home-field advantage would tip things in Canada’s favour. 

What would be the toughest group for Canada? 

All 12 groups will have at least one team from Europe. But Canada could end up with two European opponents. 

Per the rules of the draw, Canada can’t be drawn into the same group with another Concacaf team. With two Concacaf nations able to qualify via the six-team inter-confederation playoffs next March, there’s a chance Canada could be drawn against one of the four nations to emerge from the European qualifiers (who’ll be in Pot 4), in addition to a European opponent from Pot 2 or 3. 

Taking this into consideration, and based on FIFA rankings, Canada could be drawn into a group with No. 11 Morocco (Pot 2), No. 29 Norway (Pot 3) and No. 12 Italy (Pot 4), if the Italians win their European playoff. 

Another difficult group for Canada would be No. 13 Colombia (Pot 2), Norway and No. 21 Denmark (Pot 4), provided it comes out alive from the European playoffs. 

One other thing to keep in mind is how the biggest World Cup in history means a plethora of possibilities for the Canadian team, including facing nations with big immigrant populations in this country. If Canada were to face Italy in Toronto or South Korea in Vancouver, it’s not difficult to imagine that fans of those countries would flock to the stadium in numbers, turning it into a road game for the host nation.