World Cup 2026 draw: The planet's football feast

Tonight sees the 2026 World Cup draw, the FIFA Peace Prize, and an entertainment extravaganza kick off the biggest football festival on the planet.

Entertainment and football

Never before has a World Cup draw been as grand as that of 2026. From 0:00 on December 6 ( Hanoi time), the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts in Washington will become the heart of the football planet .

This is a historic World Cup, with 48 participating teams – the largest number ever.

Historic World Cup with 48 participating teams. Photo: FIFA

More than just a draw, it was an Oscar-style spectacle , what FIFA described as “the launch of the biggest World Cup of all time”.

The stage will be lit up by Heidi Klum and Kevin Hart as hosts, along with a line-up of artists including Andrea Bocelli, Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger.

The auditorium was packed with the world's top sports figures like Tom Brady and Shaquille O'Neal...

When the Village People 's "YMCA" played to close the event, Washington could have erupted more like a music scene than a football ceremony.

In another corner of the gala, the biggest superstar outside of football was… the new award: the “ FIFA Peace Award ” – the FIFA Peace Award created by President Gianni Infantino , a friend of President Donald Trump .

The winner of the award has not been officially announced by FIFA, but everyone knows who it is. Everyone knows which name will be called.

Although the political element was almost completely eliminated from the program, the appearance of the award still added to the curiosity of the draw, as an indispensable detail of an entertaining gala.

But all the spotlight eventually returned to what would really weigh on the evening: the 12 groups of the 2026 World Cup.

For the first time, the draw was “lightened” to ensure that the top four teams in the FIFA rankings – Spain, Argentina, France and England – would not meet until the semi-finals, if they all finished top of their groups.

All eyes on the 2026 World Cup draw. Photo: FIFA

This is the biggest change in history , like in tennis , reflecting the ambition to create a longer, more dramatic and more attractive World Cup. If they both top the group, Spain and Argentina can only meet in the final.

New World Cup colors

The new World Cup also broke all standards: 48 teams, 12 groups, 104 matches in just 40 days. The group stage alone had… 72 matches , a number equal to a previous normal World Cup.

From 16 host cities in the US, Canada and Mexico, there will be four matches per day, and in the final days of the group stage, the schedule will be as dense as six matches a day.

A true football festival where fans barely have time to breathe.

Amid all the anticipation, Spain – the EURO 2024 champions, currently top of the FIFA rankings with a 30-match unbeaten streak – is in the spotlight.

For the first time in years, people are talking about “other teams wanting to avoid Spain”, rather than the other way around.

Depending on the play-off results, the group of “ La Roja ” can be extremely comfortable or suddenly become tense. A mild scenario could be Austria, South Africa, New Zealand.

But Spain could also be drawn in a group with Croatia, Egypt /Ivory Coast . If Italy make it through the play-offs, they could be Luis de la Fuente's side's opponents.

Not only Spain, the other 47 teams are nervous. England does not want to be in the same group as Scotland, USA and Australia.

The balls of the draw ceremony. Photo: FIFA

Mexico wants to start the 2026 World Cup at the Azteca “cathedral” – the place that witnessed Pele (1970) and Diego Maradona (1986) lift the gold cup – in a football feast full of identity.

The US aims to advance at home. Canada hopes that the golden generation of Alphonso Davies will make its mark. Big teams like Brazil, Germany and Portugal just hope to avoid the group of death.

Mid-level teams wait for a miracle. And first-time teams have a dream story.

Tonight , millions of fans will watch as the cards fall into brand new groups. Unprecedented confrontations will appear.

New journeys will unfold. Dreams, ambitions, fears and expectations all begin now.

Before the ball rolls next June, tonight is the opening drumbeat , the moment the entire football planet holds its breath. The 2026 World Cup festival really begins with the draw ceremony.

World Cup 2026 draw groups

Group 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, UK, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany.

Group 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia.

Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa.

Pot 4: Jordan, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Curacao, Haiti, New Zealand, 4 European play-off winners; 2 international play-off winners.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/boc-tham-world-cup-2026-ngay-hoi-bong-da-cua-hanh-tinh-2469740.html