How Does FIFA World Cup Draw Work?

How Does FIFA World Cup Draw Work? Check Teams & Pot Details

Pranav Venkatesh

Published - Dec 05, 2025, 05:59 AM

3 min

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FIFA World Cup

Summary

The FIFA World Cup Draw is set to take place today
The draw will split 48 teams into twelve groups of four teams each
Find out how the draw works and how teams are split into pots

As we approach the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the excitement is building quite incredibly. The FIFA World Cup draw, scheduled for 5th December 2025, is a curtain-raiser for what's to come. 48 teams will discover their fate at the summer tournament and will know their path to the biggest prize in football. As the draw is almost upon us, find out how FIFA World Cup draw works, what the 2026 World Cup Draw pots are and who the FIFA World Cup 2026 teams.

How FIFA World Cup Draw Works?

The three host nations, Canada, Mexico and the United States, are placed in pot 1. They are assigned positions already. The Mexico national football team was assigned A1 (green ball), Canada - B1 (red ball) and the USA - D1 (blue ball) are assigned. The remaining top nine-ranked teams will be in pot 1, identified by nine balls of the same colour, and allocated to position 1 of the group into which they are drawn.

Each group will then be filled by a single team from the remaining pots with constraints developed earlier.

The draw will be made with competitive balance in mind. Two separate pathways to the semis have been established, meaning the top four highest-ranked teams can only meet each other in the semis and finals, provided they win their groups.

Also, no group will have two teams from the same confederation except UEFA. UEFA has 16 teams at the tournament, and hence this exception applies to four groups where there could be two European teams.

What are the 2026 World Cup Draw Pots?

There are four pots for the 2026 World Cup draw. They also include the six teams that are yet to be determined. All the teams from the playoffs will land in Pot 4.

Here are the 2026 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, 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, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, European Playoff A, B, C and D, FIFA PlayOff Tournament 1 and 2

The FIFA World Cup 2026 Teams

The newly expanded FIFA World Cup will have 48 teams. It truly is a global event as plenty of teams are making their debut at the biggest spectacle. Here is the full list of the FIFA World Cup 2026 teams: