The 2026 World Cup draw determines group stage matchups for the largest tournament yet, hosted by the U.S., Mexico, and Canada; learn how the draw works and how to watch it on Fox this Friday.
According to a report from the Los Angeles Times, the 2026 World Cup — the largest and most complex in history with 48 teams — will officially begin in mid-June, with the group-stage draw scheduled for Friday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The draw will be televised live on Fox, beginning with a pre-draw show at 8:30 a.m. PST, followed by the draw itself between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m., and concluding with an hour of analysis and post-draw interviews.
Under the procedure, the 48 qualified nations are allotted into four “pots,” each containing 12 teams, based on the most recent FIFA world rankings as of November 19, 2025. From each pot one team will be randomly drawn to form the 12 groups labeled A through L.
Teams drawn from the same pot cannot face each other in the group stage, and to ensure geographic balance no group can have more than one team from the same confederation — except for the European confederation (UEFA), which may have up to two teams in one group.
Host nations — the United States, Canada and Mexico — have already been allocated fixed group spots. Once the draw is complete, fixtures will be finalised, including who will play whom, when, and where during the tournament’s group phase.