World Cup draw 2026: Pots, how to watch and live stream, draw procedures, and more

The World Cup is nearly six months away.

Before you know it, 48 teams will descend on North America to play for the right to lift the iconic Winner’s Trophy on July 19 at MetLife Stadium. First, though, is the draw, when we’ll find out each country’s group stage opponents and start to map out their path to the final (if there’s a legitimate path, that is).

The big question is how far the hosts will go. The USMNT will look to reach new heights under Mauricio Pochettino. Canada has experienced a revolution under Jesse Marsch. Mexico, who were grouped in 2022 with Tata Martino in the technical area, has perpetual pressure, and that won’t change with Javier Aguirre in 2026.

While we’ll find out the groups on Friday, we won’t know the precise schedules until Saturday. We do know that single matches in Groups A, C, and K, plus two from Group H, will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium before a Round of 32 and semifinal match in the knockout stage. FIFA has stated that the schedules will be structured with “the best possible conditions” for fans and players in mind while allowing fans to watch their favorite team across multiple time zones.

Scarves and Spikes will be at the Kennedy Center on Friday providing full coverage of the draw via our live blog and across our digital channels. We’ll also be on hand for reaction from Pochettino and select USMNT players. Also, check out our World Cup hub here on the website beginning Friday morning.

How to watch and stream the World Cup draw

Friday, December 5, noon ET

TV: FOX; Telemundo and Universo (in Spanish)

Live Stream: FOXSports.com and the FOX ONE app; Peacock (in Spanish)

The Atlanta World Cup Host Committee and Atlanta United are co-hosting a free draw viewing party outside of Fado’s in Buckhead. Click here for more details.

World Cup draw pots

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

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

Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa

Pot 4: Jordan, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, European Play-Off A, B, C and D, FIFA Play-Off Tournament 1 and 2

The U.S. will be in position D1, with co-hosts Mexico and Canada assigned to A1 and B1, respectively. The remaining nine teams drawn from Pot 1 will occupy the first position in the remaining groups. Teams in Pot 2 will be drawn to groups A-L, followed by teams in Pots 3 and 4.

One note: Spain and Argentina, the top two teams in the world, will be placed in separate pathways to ensure they do not meet before the semifinals.

Who could the United States face in the group stage of the World Cup?

Pot 3 – June 12, Inglewood (SoFi Stadium)

The U.S. will open its 2026 tournament against a team from this pot. (Except Panama, since both are in CONCACAF.)

Norway automatically jumps out because of Erling Haaland, who, at 25, will be playing in his first-ever World Cup. A USMNT/Algeria match would be a callback to the 2010 tournament, where Landon Donovan’s iconic stoppage-time winner saw the U.S. through to the knockout round. Meanwhile, Miguel Almiron’s Paraguay, in its first World Cup since 2012, could make for a tricky matchup even after the U.S. took them down in Chester in November.

Pot 2 – June 19, Seattle (Lumen Field)

Really, any team in this pot could cause some heartburn for the USMNT if they aren’t careful. They’ll certainly want no part in Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, or what should be a very motivated Uruguay side for the easiest path to the knockout stage. You may as well throw Switzerland, which hasn’t lost a match this calendar year — including a 4-0 friendly against the Americans in Nashville — into that mix as well.

The USMNT may not mind Japan, which it beat 2-0 in Columbus in September, and would probably want another shot at a South Korea side that beat them 2-0 in Harrison in September.

Pot 4 – June 25, Inglewood (SoFi Stadium)

Some quick housekeeping: Cross Curaçao and Haiti off the list as they’re CONCACAF members and can’t face the U.S. in the group stage. The same is true for Jamaica or Suriname, which will look to qualify through FIFA’s inter-confederation play-off.

With that out of the way, the USMNT will be favored against most any team that comes out of here. The emphasis is on the word “most” because there’s a chance that they could face Italy, Wales, or Poland, who will have to go through UEFA’s qualifying play-off to make the tournament proper. Everyone else (Iraq, DR Congo, Bolivia, New Caledonia) would be in play, though. Meanwhile, Ghana would set up a rematch of a 2014 World Cup group stage match that saw the U.S. win 2-1, the third of three straight times the two countries faced each other in the tournament.

After running the World Cup Simulator, the USA, Scotland, Japan, and the qualifier from UEFA Path C (projected to be Turkey) would make up Group D.

• I had a chance to watch the match during which Scotland qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1998. While it may not be projected to get far, its fans will certainly turn out wherever the team ends up, so that’ll be fun to see throughout the tournament.
• The Samurai Blue have made it to the Round of 16 in consecutive World Cups and took Croatia to penalties in 2022. The fact that Group D matches will be played in L.A. and Seattle certainly can’t be overlooked, given the concentration of Japanese people in those cities.
• Turkey, which hasn’t been to a World Cup since a shock third-place finish in 2002, features Real Madrid’s Arda Güler, who likely won’t need to wait another 24 years to see his country back on this stage.

Here’s a look at all the groups:

As a reminder, here’s which groups would play in Atlanta in the group stage, with specific schedules to be released on Saturday. (Mexico and the U.S. won’t appear in Atlanta as part of Groups A and C, respectively, as their group stage match locations have been predetermined.)

June 15 and June 21: Group H

June 18: Group A

June 24: Group C

June 27: Group K