The 23rd FIFA World Cup will be taking place next summer, 11 June–19 July 2026, in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Only 42 out of 48 qualifying teams are known at this point. However, the group draw has already taken place, held at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on Friday, 5 December.
US President Donald Trump was in attendance for the illustrious event. In fact, he was awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize by FIFA President Gianni Infantino for his ‘exceptional and extraordinary actions’ in promoting unity across the Globe.
It was not just former footballers who helped out with the drawing of the Mundial groups this time. Seven-time Super Bowl winner former NFL quarterback Tom Brady and four-time NBA champion former basketball player Shaquille O’Neal also picked a couple of countries out of the bowls, among others. As for representatives of the great game of football, we had former England international centre-back Rio Ferdinand on stage.
So, the audience really could not complain about the lack of star power at the event. However, what they could make reasonable complaints about was the delays: the actual group draw did not start until over an hour into the ceremony…
But eventually, we did find out which nations will play which in the next FIFA World Cup group stage.
Of the fixtures, England v Croatia in Group L is among the ones that stand out. The originators of football are entering their ‘60 years of hurt’ by now, to reference the famous song by the English rock band The Lightning Seeds. They faced the Croats in the 2018 World Cup semi-final in Russia, and in an upset, lost to them in extra time. Since then, Luka Modrić and the rest of the Western Balkan side collected a bronze medal in the latest tournament, 2022 in Qatar, as well.
Another nation that recently surprised the football world with a semi-finalist performance at the World Cup is Morocco, which made it to the last four in 2022. They will face Brazil, all-time leaders with five World Cup titles, in Group C. They also got a sturdy European side, Scotland, from Pot 3 in the group with them.
Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappé’s France will be meeting Erling Haaland’s Norway in Group I. Defending world champions Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, were drawn into Group J, along with Austria, Algeria, and Jordan.
The three host nations got automatic Pot 1 seedings, and were placed into their groups before the draw. Mexico got placed in Group A, Canada in Group B, and—for unclear reasons—the United States in Group D.
FIFA World Cup 2026 Group Draw
| GROUP A |
| Mexico |
| South Korea |
| South Africa |
| Euro Play-Off Winner 4 |
| GROUP B |
| Canada |
| Switzerland |
| Qatar |
| Euro Play-Off Winner 1 |
| GROUP C |
| Brazil |
| Morocco |
| Scotland |
| Haiti |
| GROUP D |
| United States |
| Australia |
| Paraguay |
| Euro Play-Off Winner 3 |
| GROUP E |
| Germany |
| Ecuador |
| Ivory Coast |
| Curaçao |
| GROUP F |
| Netherlands |
| Japan |
| Tunisia |
| Euro Play-Off Winner 2 |
| GROUP G |
| Belgium |
| Iran |
| Egypt |
| New Zealand |
| GROUP H |
| Spain |
| Uruguay |
| Saudi Arabia |
| Cape Verde |
| GROUP I |
| France |
| Senegal |
| Norway |
| Intercontinental Play-Off Winner 2 |
| GROUP J |
| Argentina |
| Austria |
| Algeria |
| Jordan |
| GROUP K |
| Portugal |
| Colombia |
| Uzbekistan |
| Intercontinental Play-Off Winner 1 |
| GROUP L |
| England |
| Croatia |
| Panama |
| Ghana |
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