Determining the date for the 2026 World Cup draw.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - The draw for the group stage of the 2026 World Cup will take place on December 5th in Washington (USA). The seeded teams will also be determined.

The draw for the 2026 World Cup group stage has finally been confirmed. The event will take place on December 5th at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. (USA) at 12 PM (local time).

The draw for the group stage of the 2026 World Cup took place on December 5th (Photo: TNT).

This is the biggest tournament ever, featuring 48 participating teams. The three host countries for this event are the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

To date, 42 teams have been confirmed, including:

CONCACAF (6 teams): USA, Mexico, Canada (host), Haiti, Curacao, Panama.

Asia (8 teams): Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar.

South America (6 teams): Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay.

Europe (12 teams): England, France, Croatia, Norway, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Scotland, Spain, Austria, Belgium.

Oceania (1 team): New Zealand.

Africa (9 teams): Egypt, Senegal, South Africa, Cape Verde, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Tunisia, Ghana.

In addition, the remaining 6 spots will be determined through a play-off round taking place in March next year. Specifically, 16 European teams will participate in the play-off round to select 4 spots. These include 12 second-placed teams: Slovakia, Kosovo, Denmark, Ukraine, Turkey, Republic of Ireland, Poland, Bosnia, Italy, Wales, Albania, and the Czech Republic. Additionally, there are 4 teams that qualified through the UEFA Nations League: North Macedonia, Sweden, Romania, and Northern Ireland.

The remaining six teams – Iraq (Asia), Democratic Republic of Congo (Africa), Jamaica, Suriname (CONCACAF), Bolivia (South America), and New Caledonia (Oceania) – will compete to determine the two spots in the 2026 World Cup.

FIFA has announced the seedings for the 2026 World Cup group stage draw. Accordingly, Group 1 will consist of the three host nations along with the nine best-ranked teams in the FIFA rankings. Groups 2, 3, and 4 will be determined based on the remaining FIFA rankings.

The seeded groups in the draw for the 2026 World Cup group stage (Photo: Wiki).

The 48 teams are divided into 12 groups, with 4 teams in each group. As per usual practice, two teams from the same league cannot be in the same group, except in UEFA, where each group is allowed a maximum of two European teams. This rule aims to ensure continental diversity in each group, while maintaining competitiveness and balance among the teams.

Mexico is placed in Group A and will play the opening match of the 2026 World Cup at the Azteca Stadium on June 11, 2026. Canada is in Group B, and the United States is in Group D.

According to FIFA's calculation method, the seeded groups for the 2026 World Cup draw are determined as follows:

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

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

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

Group 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curacao, Haiti, New Zealand, and 6 teams that qualified through the play-offs.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/xac-dinh-thoi-diem-boc-tham-world-cup-2026-20251120175619187.htm