Trump and the award

President Donald Trump attended and was awarded the “FIFA Peace Prize” an award given for his significant contribution to the ceasefire and military conflict between Israel and Hamas.

“This will be the greatest World Cup that humanity has ever seen,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on stage.

This edition of the draw featured some new changes, as the field expanded from 32 to 48 for the first time, with 12 groups of four and separate routes for the four highest-ranked teams in the world.



2026 World Cup qualified teams

Entering the draw, 42 of the 48 spots in the field have been clinched. The final six spots will be decided in March's qualification playoffs.

Here are the teams qualified entering the draw:

• Host nations: Canada, Mexico, United States
• Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan
• Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
• Concacaf: Curaçao, Haiti, Panama
• Europe: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland
• Oceania: New Zealand
• South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
• How does World Cup draw work- Format etc.

Entering the draw, the 48 teams – 42 already clinched – are placed into four pots of 12 based on the November FIFA world rankings. The final six countries are in the fourth pot by default, no matter who ends up qualifying.

As the co-hosts, the USA, Canada and Mexico were placed into the first pot by default with the tournament's nine highest-ranked teams.

Other than Europe (16 places), no continental federation may have more than one team in each group. FIFA changed the draw for 2026 to create separate pathways to the semifinals for the four-highest ranked teams: Spain, Argentina, France and England. That means if Spain and Argentina win their groups, the world's Nos. 1 and 2 teams can not meet prior to the final.

How the 2026 World Cup draw unfolded:

World Cup groups

Group A

• Mexico
• South Africa
• South Korea
• UEFA playoff D (Czechia/Ireland/Denmark/North Macedonia)

Group B

• Canada
• UEFA playoff A (Wales/Bosnia and Herzegovina/Italy/Northern Ireland)
• Qatar
• Switzerland

Group C

• Brazil
• Morocco
• Haiti
• Scotland

Group D

• United States
• Paraguay
• Australia
• UEFA playoff C (Türkiye/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo)

Group E

• Germany
• Curaçao
• Ivory Coast
• Ecuador

Group F

• Netherlands
• Japan
• UEFA playoff B (Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania)
• Tunisia

Group G

• Belgium
• Egypt
• Iran
• New Zealand

Group H

• Spain
• Cape Verde
• Saudi Arabia
• Uruguay

Group I

• France
• Senegal
• FIFA playoff 2 (Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname)
• Norway

Group J

• Argentina
• Algeria
• Austria
• Jordan

Group K

• Portugal
• FIFA playoff 1 (New Caledonia/Jamaica/Congo)
• Uzbekistan
• Colombia

Group L

• England
• Croatia
• Ghana
• Panama