2026 WC Draw Preview: Pots, how it works, “Group of Death” scenarios

By : David Meshioye

Date: 5 December 2025 6:48pm WAT

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The draw for FIFA’s 2026 World Cup is taking place in snowy Washington D.C. on a historic day for soccer in North America.

The biggest-ever tournament in World Cup history will see 48 teams squaring off across North America next summer with 104 games across Canada, Mexico and the USA.

Who will the host nations Canada, Mexico and the United States draw? Will the “Group of Death” scenarios be plentiful? Which of the favorites will get a favorable, or not so favorable, draw?

How the World Cup draw works In its simplest form, all 48 teams are placed in pots which are based on their FIFA world ranking. The top nine teams plus the three hosts are in Pot 1, then the next 12 highest-ranked teams are in Pot 2, the next highest-ranked 12 teams in Pot 3 and in Pot 4 you have the 6 lowest-ranked teams plus the six winners of the playoffs.

Teams from Pot 1 will be drawn out and placed in a group, then one team from each of Pot 2, Pot 3 and Pot 4 will be drawn into each group until there are 12 groups which each have four teams. No teams from the same region can be drawn into the same group, except from UEFA as a maximum of two European teams can be in the same group.

Key storylines for World Cup draw The obvious ones are whether Lionel Messi and Argentina will win back-to-back World Cup titles as he aims to call time on his international career (surely) in the best way possible. While the other big storyline swirling is around Cristiano Ronaldo, 40, and if he can win the one trophy which has evaded him during his legendary career, as he aims to lead his beloved Portugal to their first-ever World Cup title. Elsewhere the hosts are all hopeful of going on deep runs as the USA, Mexico and Canada all play their three group stage games on home soil and that should give them a huge advantage as all three have the potential to reach the quarterfinals, at least…

There is also plenty of interest around England, France and Spain as the European powerhouses have stacked squads and the Three Lions in particular have come so close to winning silverware but lost in the final of the last two European Championships. There are also the likes of Norway, Scotland and Austria qualifying for the first time in 28 years and all three European nations could go on a deep run if the draw is favorable.

And fairytales are alive and well at this competition as the expanded format has allowed for Uzbekistan, Jordan, Curacao and Cape Verde to qualify for their first-ever World Cup, while Haiti has qualified for just the second time. There is a huge hope there will be massive upsets and Cinderella runs at this tournament as the expanded format has given so many new nations a chance to compete in the World Cup.

What are the pots for the 2026 World Cup? Here are the lists of pots for the 2026 World Cup draw in full:

Pot 1: Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, USA (hosts), Mexico (hosts), Canada (hosts)

Pot 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, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curacao, Haiti, New Zealand, UEFA playoff winner 1, UEFA playoff winner 2, UEFA playoff winner 3, UEFA playoff winner 4, Inter-confederation playoff winner 1, Inter-confederation playoff winner 2

“Group of Death” scenarios When you look at the pots above, there are a few “Group of Death” scenarios for some ridiculously tough groups. The obvious one is: Argentina, Croatia, Norway and Ghana. Another would be Spain, Morocco, Egypt and Italy (if they win in the playoffs).

Basically, nobody wants to draw Croatia, Morocco or Norway and with the expanded format there is now the very real possibility we will have “Groups of Death” for the first-time ever in a World Cup tournament.

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