42 of the 48 national teams to compete in North America have been drawn against each other
By Christopher D. Silbernagel
The final drawing to determine the 12 groups of the 2026 World Cup Group Stage took place on December 5, 2025, with only three of the 48 national teams already preselected into different groups—those being the hosting trio of Canada, Mexico and the United States. A host of stars were present at the ceremony, including England and Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand, who conducted the draw, alongside Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, Shaquille O’Neal and Aaron Judge.
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Watch parties took place across the world, including one just outside of the Kennedy Center in San Francisco, California, where the official draw took place, with many fans awaiting to hear the results. Here is how the groups look after the draw.
| Group A | Group B | Group C |
| Mexico | Canada | Brazil |
| South Africa | European Play-Off B | Morocco |
| Korea Republic | Qatar | Haiti |
| European Play-Off D | Switzerland | Scotland |
| Group D | Group E | Group F |
| United States | Germany | Netherlands |
| Australia | Curaçao | Japan |
| Paraguay | Côte d’Ivoire | European Play-Off A |
| European Play-Off C | Ecuador | Tunisia |
| Group G | Group H | Group I |
| Belgium | Spain | France |
| Egypt | Cabo Verde | Senegal |
| Iran | Saudi Arabia | Inter-confederation Play-Off 1 |
| New Zealand | Uruguay | Norway |
| Group J | Group K | Group L |
| Argentina | Portugal | England |
| Algeria | Uzbekistan | Croatia |
| Austria | Inter-confederation Play-Off 2 | Ghana |
| Jordan | Colombia | Panama |
The 2026 World Cup is on the final stretch of national team qualifications, as there are only six open spots remaining. Those final six teams will be determined on March 31, 2026, in what has been described by some pundits as a convoluted, among other words, qualification process. Four of those six teams to qualify will come from Europe, with 16 teams remaining to fight on four different paths to make it to the world stage. Below are those paths and the teams that will face one another. The winner of each path will directly qualify.
| European Path A |
| Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Italy vs Northern Ireland |
| European Path B |
| Ukraine vs Sweden |
| Poland vs Albania |
| European Path C |
| Slovakia vs Kosovo |
| Turkey vs Romania |
| European Path D |
| Czechia vs Republic of Ireland |
| Denmark vs North Macedonia |
The last two teams to qualify will come from the Inter-confederation play-offs. For the first path, the winner between New Caledonia and Jamaica will face the waiting Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) in the final, while the second path will see Bolivia battling Suriname to reach the final against Iraq.
Without knowing the full scope of the groups, it’s difficult to provide predictions this early, though there are some early signs for easier paths for certain teams. That said, the likely candidate to be considered the “group of death” would be Group F, with Japan being a sleeper top 10 team and the only candidate from Asia capable of winning it all, the Netherlands being a historically top contender, Tunisia being a solid underdog and then potentially four-time world champions Italy being added to the mix via the European Play-off. For those unfamiliar, it means that this group could likely be the most exciting to watch.
Be sure to subscribe to Sports Planning Guide for the latest updates on the World Cup, including a breakdown of the groups and how national team placements will affect travel and spending. We’ll even throw in predictions once the final six teams are decided, just for fun.
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