The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup took place in Washington, DC, on Friday, and Flashscore had reporters on the ground at the event to cover the spectacle as it unfolded. Find out how the groups were drawn below.
Probably the closest the competition has to a ‘group of death’ comes in the form of Group I, comprising France, Erling Haaland’s Norway, Senegal, plus one of the FIFA playoff winners.
Elsewhere, European champions Spain landed Uruguay in Group H, while heavyweights Brazil were paired with Morocco in C. Another one of the title contenders, England, are in a tricky last group (L), alongside Croatia, Ghana and Panama.
Holders Argentina were handed the rather kind Group J of Algeria, Austria, and Jordan. Fellow Pot 1 nations Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands also came away with comfortable draws on paper.
The host nations of Mexico, Canada and the USA will all fancy their chances of progression, having largely avoided the most feared sides.
Below you can see how the World Cup groups were drawn.
In what follows, ‘P/O’ stands for ‘Play-Off’, in reference to the European and FIFA Play-off Tournaments, which will take place in March to determine the final six of the 48 participants. The potential playoff winners are listed in brackets.
2026 FIFA World Cup groups
Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, P/O D winner (Republic of Ireland, Czechia, Denmark or North Macedonia)
Group B: Canada, P/O A winner (Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales or Bosnia), Qatar, Switzerland
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
Group D: USA, Paraguay, Australia, P/O C winner (Turkey, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo)
Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, P/O B winner (Ukraine, Sweden, Poland or Albania), Tunisia
Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Group H: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Group I: France, Senegal, P/O 2 winner (Iraq, Bolivia or Suriname), Norway
Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Group K: Portugal, P/O 1 winner (New Caledonia, Jamaica or DR Congo), Uzbekistan, Colombia
Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama
Mexico to host South Africa in opening match
The tournament will kick off at Mexico’s Azteca Stadium with a match between the host nation and South Africa, at 21:00 CET on June 11th, 16 years to the day since they contested the opening match of the 2010 World Cup.
In arguably the standout clashes of the opening round of fixtures, Brazil will face Morocco at 00:00 CET on June 14th while England will take on Croatia at 22:00 CET on June 17th.
In the group stage, kick-off times will range from 18:00 CET to 06:00 CET the following mornings, with no matches being played during the European daytime.
What about the playoffs?
As mentioned, four nations will come into the tournament from the European playoff pathways (A, B, C and D), and two will come from the inter-confederational playoff pathways (1 and 2).
Both those tournaments will be held in late March. Click through the links for everything you need to know about the European Play-Offs, and everything you need to know about the FIFA Play-Off Tournament.
From Bocelli to Trump and everything in between
Flashscore’s reporters arrived at snowy conditions outside Washington’s Kennedy Centre ahead of the draw, but were soon warmed by the incredible tenor tones of Andrea Bocelli, who opened the ceremony with a spine-tingling rendition of ‘Nessun Dorma’.
The festivities didn’t stop with that, however, as musical performances and celebrity cameos came in boatloads during the near hour-long build-up to the draw proper.
Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger sang the new World Cup anthem, ‘Desire’, Heidi Klum and Kevin Hart kept it chugging along between acts, and Matthew McConaughey even popped up on screen.
All of that was somehow dwarfed by Gianni Infantino’s presentation of the new-fangled ‘FIFA Peace Prize’ to US President Donald Trump, an uncomfortably indulgent but entirely expected affair.
Rio Ferdinand and Samantha Johnson led the actual draw, with the help of North American sporting legends Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, Aaron Judge and Shaquille O’Neal, in what was a slightly clunky but fairly swift procedure.
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