Draw for historic 48-team FIFA World Cup set for Friday

FIFA World Cup trophy. (Photo: FIFA)

By Bashir Mbuthia
Tuesday, December 2, 2025

The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw takes place Friday, December 5 in Washington, setting groups and opening fixtures for the first 48‑team tournament across Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place on Friday, December 5, determining the groups for the first-ever 48-team tournament, with six qualification spots still open ahead of the historic event.

The tournament will be held across Canada, Mexico, and the United States from June 11 to July 19, 2026.

More To Read

Matches will take place in multiple host cities across the three countries, including Toronto and Vancouver in Canada and Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey in Mexico. In the United States, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle will host the matches.

The opening match is set to be played at Mexico City Stadium, and the final is scheduled for New York-New Jersey Stadium.

According to organisers, the Friday draw will be hosted at the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington and streamed live on FIFA TV's YouTube channel.

Additionally, local media reports indicate that US President Donald Trump may attend the ceremony that will set the opening fixtures and group stage line-up.

"The Final Draw for 2026 takes place this Friday and will determine the groups and opening fixtures for next year's FIFA World Cup," organisers said in a statement on X.

Canada, Mexico and the United States, the three host nations, have automatically qualified for the tournament. Asia will be represented by Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan.

Similarly, Africa's qualified teams include Algeria, Cape Verde, the Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, and Tunisia. From the CONCACAF region, Curaçao, Haiti, and Panama have secured places.

South America will send Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Uruguay. New Zealand is the sole representative from Oceania, while Europe's line-up features Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland.

According to FIFA, the draw will give fans worldwide a first look at the tournament structure, as excitement builds ahead of the 2026 World Cup.