FIFA announced a number of amendments to next week’s 2026 World Cup draw in Washington, DC on Tuesday.
Among the changes is the separation of the top four teams in the FIFA Rankings into different quarters of the draw. With the assumption that each of these teams progresses via winning their groups, this would set up semi-finals meetings and keep the No. 1 and No. 2 teams on the opposite sides of the draw.
Another change is a predetermined order of matchups. In the case of Canada, a Pot 1 team who has already been drawn into Group B, it will open its tournament on June 12 at Toronto’s BMO Field against a team from Pot 4. From there, Canada will relocate to Vancouver where it will play a Pot 3 team in its second game and wrap up the group stage with a game against a Pot 2 side.
With six more spots to be determined through the UEFA and Intercontinental Playoffs, all playoff teams are set to be included in Pot 4 regardless of world ranking. That means Italy, who are currently No. 12 and would have been in Pot 2 if they automatically qualified, will be in the final pot should they make it through the playoffs. New Caldedonia, a team in the Intercontinental Playoff, would be the lowest-ranked team to reach the tournament with a current ranking of No. 149.
Because there are only 12 groups and 16 European teams (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland plus for more playoff teams), there will be four groups with two UEFA teams in them. It is the only confederation that can be represented by two teams in a group.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw is set for Dec. 5 at noon ET from the Kennedy Center.
