World Cup 2026 draw: updates as the teams await fate in Washington DC – live | World Cup 2026

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Alex Abnos is still out in the cold.

Journalists queue in the cold at the Kennedy Center. Photograph: AlexanderAbnos/The GuardianShare

Of course, the event we are all waiting for is to see who the mystery winner of the inaugural peace prize will be? The planet is on tenterhooks. Further details from Daniel Boffey here.

The background of the chair of the committee tasked with coming up with a proposal on the process may not convince everyone that he will speak truth to power either.

He is Zaw Zaw, the 59-year-old president of the Myanmar football federation for the past two decades who, along with his company, Max Myanmar, was the subject of EU and US economic sanctions at various points between 2009 and 2016.

The US state department described him in a press release in 2009 as one of the “cronies†of Myanmarâ€s brutal ruling military junta as it suppressed democracy and violated human rights.

Share

Whereâ€s the oddest place youâ€ve watched a World Cup draw? Iâ€ll start, for 2010â€s draw, in December 2009, I watched it on BBC World in a Palestinian bar in Jerusalem, Beckham, Charlize Theron and all on a very grainy TV screen.

David Beckham and Charlize Theron at the World Cup draw ceremony in Cape Town, December 2009. Photograph: Víctor R Caivano/APShare

Updated at 10.32 EST

This being 2025, weâ€re expecting a slick, high concept draw, with perhaps a bit of tack lobbed in, though can it live up to previous oddities?

President of the United States Donald Trump or the late actor Lloyd Bridges? You decide. Photograph: Brian Snyder/ReutersShare

Updated at 10.34 EST

What of Mother England? Thomas Tuchel has been impressive so far but can he counter the Englishmanâ€s fear of playing in hot weather?

Share

As the globe turns its attentions to Washington DC, perhaps perspective can be regained by Football Dailyâ€s considerations of Saturdayâ€s East Midlands derby?

Share

Rio Ferdinand will be joined by Sam Johnson and a host of sporting greats, including Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, Aaron Judge and Shaquille Oâ€Neal, as the draw conductor.

“He had this to say on the ticket prices: “‘I am a man of the people in terms of Iâ€m from a place where we were always hoping for things to be accessible. I know that the people behind the scenes at FIFA are aiming and working to something like that now, whether they get there for that remains to be seen.â€

Last month, talking to LBCâ€s Tom Swarbrick, the man of the people said this about his move to Dubai: “If things like the health service, for example, was absolutely flying and working perfectly well then I think people wouldnâ€t mind paying tax.â€

Rio Ferdinand arrives for the pre-draw reception. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty ImagesShare

Updated at 10.22 EST

House-keeping: the draw itself will go at 5.55pm UK time/12.55pm ET. It will be groups ONLY. Cities and kick-off times will be announced on Saturday at 5pm UK time/Midday ET.

Share

Update from Kennedy Center

Alexander Abnos

“The security line is insanely backed up. A huge huddle of journalists, host city officials, basically anyone with a credential are huddle together in the wind and snow waiting to get through security. I am not having fun.â€

Share

What entertainment awaits us? The question of how the Village People became the house band of the Trumpist is a complicated one.

Memories of 1994â€s draw, held in Las Vegas, where this draw was purported to be, via ESPN and Roger Bennett, from 2014.

“The star-studded event took place at Caesars Palace on the Las Vegas Strip. A cast of thousands including Barry Manilow, Julio Iglesias, Faye Dunaway and Dick Clark were involved in a fantastical affair that the great Bob Ley described being as if “Salvador Dali could produce a state lottery.â€

“Fittingly for such a surreal occasion, it was Robin Williams who stole the spotlight. First, the comedian described the draw bracket as “the worldâ€s biggest keno game†and then proceeded to refer repeatedly to Sepp Blatter as “Sepp Bladder,†even after the then-FIFA general secretary corrected him, insisting, “This is not a comedy!â€â€

Via Wiki:

The Navy contacted group manager Henri Belolo to use the song In The Navy in a recruiting advertising campaign for television and radio. Belolo gave the rights free on condition that the Navy help them shoot the music video. Less than a month later, the Village group arrived at Naval Base San Diego where the Navy provided them with access to film on the deck of the berthed frigate USS Reasoner; in the end, the Navy did not use the video, choosing to remain with the traditional “Anchors Aweigh“.[

Victor Willis is the sole remaining original member of the Village People.

Some of the smooth moves we can look forward to. Photograph: Tasos Katopodis/Getty ImagesShare

Updated at 10.06 EST

John in New York gets in touch: “I bought tickets for a group game in Philadelphia so Iâ€m excited to find out which teams I will be going to see. There is part of me worried that it will be Jordan v Panama or something like that. But on the other hand, a game like that might the occasion these teams first World Cup win, itâ€s a second group game so it might be a team qualifying for the knockout stages for the first time.

“A game with a team like Ecuador or Colombia would be great to see as their fans would bring a lot color & support. I have worked with guys from these countries who were massive soccer fans and would love to see their country at a World Cup game but with the climate in the United States I donâ€t know if they will want to attend and deal with the likely hassle. Iâ€m a naturalized American citizen from Ireland with an American wife and two children born here. I will be able to travel to a game without any problems. A Naturalized Ecuadorean or Colombian in the same position as me may have to deal with ICE asking them to prove that their allowed to be in the country. Will they want to deal with that hassle in order to go to a game?â€

Share

Justin Kavanagh gets in touch: “An armed man, a sniffer dog, and a portaloo. That photo doesnâ€t bode well for the World Cup ahead of us next summer. I suspect that the average fan (i.e. those not in the corporate seats) will be treated with the same contempt as those journalists are feeling right now, standing waiting to do their job in the snow. I loved the last World Cup held in America, when it proved a weird but welcoming country. But this time round the tournament feels like yet another money grab for the millionaire class… I think Iâ€d rather take a boating holiday off the coast of Venezuela than fork thousands into the coffers of Infantino & his buddy with the blond bouffant.â€

Those scenes remind of security at JFK airport, an almost deliberately hostile environment.

Share

Updated at 09.58 EST

Krishna gets in touch: “Is there any plans to have the match balls in a particular shade of orange? Then a Procol Harum tribute band can compose a WC anthem “a proper shade of peach†or “a tighter coat of tangerineâ€.â€

Share

The Kennedy Center for Performing Arts will host the show. Whatâ€s on at the venue otherwise? Events include:

The Improvised Shakespeare Company:Based on one audience suggestion (a title of a show that has never been written), The Improvised Shakespeare Company® creates a brand new, fully improvised Shakespearean masterpiece right before your eyes!

And:

Monty Pythonâ€s Spamalot: “Everything that makes a great knight in the theater is here, from flying cows to killer rabbits, British royalty to French taunters, dancing girls, rubbery shrubbery—and of course, the Lady of the Lake. Spamalotfeatures well-known songs such as “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,†“The Song That Goes Like This,†“Find Your Grail,†and more that have become beloved classics in the musical theater canon.â€

America really loves Monty Python, rather a fading force in the UK these days. Thereâ€s a Norwegian blue gag in Erling Haaland somewhere or other.

Share

Updated at 09.32 EST

Looks like the journalists will have the Secret Service run the rule over them.

The queue outside the World Cup draw in Washington DC. Photograph: The Guardian/Alexander Abnos

Allow content provided by a third party?

This article includes content hosted on embed.bsky.app. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as the provider may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.

Share

Updated at 09.43 EST

Benjamin gets in touch: “I am webmaster of www.national-football-teams.com !

“As you can imagine, draw day is quite something when international football is one of your things. I want to chip in on possible groups of death. These are the two of the hardest groups I could come up with:

• Argentina

• Morocco

• Norway

• Italy (If they qualify)

“And what about groups that sound really easy? Well, how about these:

• Canada

• Austria

• Qatar

• Cape Verde

• Belgium

• Iran

• South Africa

• Curacao

All of these groups would be possible in the same draw, and I guess those might feel a little unfair. On the other hand, I am exactly the sort of person who would love to see all these juicy matches!

Member of the media are seen queuing outside the John F Kennedy Center. Photograph: Jeenah Moon/ReutersShare

Updated at 09.23 EST

Rogorn gets in touch: “One thing about the World Cup draw: I see that the hosts have chosen to give themselves (or Fifa has chosen for them) the advantage of having more days to complete the tournament (by being among the first teams to start playing) over the advantage to play last in the group stages, therefore knowing what results they need (and the third-place thing will be key). If you were in their places, which of these two advantages would you choose?

“One other thing: are the venues going to be drawn too, or will this be decided by the organising committee between today and tomorrow? And if so, which teams will be sent where (i.e., which teams will play in the USA as opposed to… not?)“

The venues come out as part of the draw, with fixtures confirmed on the Saturday.

ShareJamie Jackson

Pep Guardiola has been reflecting on next summerâ€s World Cup in America, pointing to his experience with Spain in the heat of America at the 1994 edition.

“United States in ‘94 we played in Dallas [a 2-2 draw with South Korea] and wow. We were out [as substitutes or squad members] and maybe it would have been better to be inside like Thomas [Tuchel] has decided [for England]. In some states and in Mexico in summer, itâ€s hot. A lot of drinks are needed.â€

There has been talk Tuchel will keep his subs in the cooler/in the dressing-room until itâ€s time to call on them.

Pep Guardiola in more hairy times at USA ‘94. Photograph: Dpa Picture Alliance/AlamyShare

Updated at 10.10 EST

We will soon know who landed a “group of deathâ€, though third place qualification from groups does rather reduce the deadliness. Will Unwin has been pruning his permutations.

Share

David Hytner hopes the draw can be about the football. Letâ€s hope so, too.

It can sound corny when players and managers talk about fulfilling childhood dreams at the World Cup. But the emotion during qualification has been real. The scenes, for example, when Scotland secured their first spot at a finals since France 98 with the epic Hampden Park victory over Denmark will live for ever. And how about when Cape Verde got there with the home win over Eswatini? Africa had five places for Qatar 22. They now have a guaranteed nine. It will be 10 if the Democratic Republic of the Congo win their playoff final against New Caledonia or Jamaica.

Share

Here are the pots.

FIFA World Cup 2026 finals draw pots Photograph: FIFAShare

Via the Fifa media release, hereâ€s what we can expect on the razzmatazz front.

• Global icons Heidi Klum and Kevin Hart to co-host final draw show at Kennedy Center in Washington DC

• Actor and producer Danny Ramirez to engage football greats in attendance, bringing Hollywood flair

• Live performances to be delivered by legendary maestro Andrea Bocelli, Village People and global music superstar Robbie Williams, who will be joined by award-winning multi-hyphenate Nicole Scherzinger

Share

Lunchtime listening: Jonathan Liew on the political hue of next summer.

Share

The technicalities are here, as picked through by Tom Lutz.

And how does the actual draw work?

The 48 teams have been divided into four pots containing 12 teams each. Pot 1 consists of the three co-hosts – USA, Mexico and Canada – along with the nine top teams in the current Fifa rankings. The next three pots were decided by the Fifa rankings, with the lowest-ranked qualified teams in Pot 4. The 12 groups for the World Cup will then be formed by one team from each pot (full pots listed later).

Sounds simple!

Well, not quite. There are still six qualification places to be decided via playoffs in late March, and teams involved in those matches have been placed in Pot 4. That means a team such as Italy will be ostensibly the weakest opponents in a group, even though they have won the World Cup four times and are ranked No 12 in the world, should they come through the European qualifying playoffs. Teams from the same qualifying conference should, in theory, not be in the same group. But that is impossible for European teams as Uefa will have 16 teams in the draw. There will, though, be a maximum of two European teams in any group. In addition, the top four teams in the Fifa rankings – Spain, Argentina, France and England – cannot face each other until the semi-finals (of course, they have to make it there first),provided they win their groups.

Share

Preamble

Welcome to our live coverage of the draw for the World Cup 2026 finals. The USA, Canada and Mexico beckon, as perhaps do your travel plans. With 48 teams to be drawn, there will be plenty to get across, not least because not all of the finalists have yet been decided. Weâ€re expecting glitz and glamour, and thatâ€s just from Rio Ferdinand and Gianni Infantino, so join as we bring the latest from Washington DC. The townâ€s most famous semi-resident will make his usual splash, no doubt.

Share

Source link