Thank you for joining us for our examination of FIFA’s decision to expand the Men’s World Cup to 48 teams. We will now conclude by conducting the draw for the 2026 Men’s World Cup given the qualifying results that we presented last week.
The qualifying process ended with two sets of playoffs. The sixteen seeding playoffs were between two teams that have already qualified; the winners ended up in Pot 1, and the losers were placed in Pot 2. The sixteen repechage playoffs decided the last sixteen teams to qualify; the winners were placed in Pot 3.
| POT 1 |
|---|
| ¤ | Argentina |
| ¤ | Australia |
| ¤ | Belgium |
| ¤ | Costa Rica |
| ¤ | England |
| ¤ | Germany |
| ¤ | Hungary |
| ¤ | Iran |
| ¤ | Italy |
| ¤ | Japan |
| ¤ | Korea Rep |
| ¤ | Libya |
| ¤ | Mali |
| ¤ | Netherlands |
| ¤ | Switzerland |
| ¤ | Uruguay |
|
| POT 2 |
|---|
| ¤ | Canada |
| ¤ | Congo DR |
| ¤ | Côte d’Ivoire |
| ¤ | Czech Rep |
| ¤ | Denmark |
| ¤ | Egypt |
| ¤ | Guinea |
| ¤ | Ireland Rep |
| ¤ | Mexico |
| ¤ | New Zealand |
| ¤ | Panama |
| ¤ | Poland |
| ¤ | Portugal |
| ¤ | Ukraine |
| ¤ | United States |
| ¤ | Uzbekistan |
|
| POT 3 |
|---|
| ¤ | Brazil |
| ¤ | Cameroon |
| ¤ | Chile |
| ¤ | China PR |
| ¤ | Colombia |
| ¤ | France |
| ¤ | Gabon |
| ¤ | Greece |
| ¤ | Israel |
| ¤ | Montenegro |
| ¤ | Papua New Guinea |
| ¤ | Peru |
| ¤ | Slovenia |
| ¤ | Spain |
| ¤ | Sweden |
| ¤ | Togo |
|
The draw divided the teams into sixteen groups of three; each group contains one team from each pot. We had twenty UEFA teams qualify, so there are four groups containing two UEFA teams. All other groups contain no more than one team from each confederation. Teams in Pot 1 and Pot 2 who had played one another in the seeding playoffs were allowed to be allocated to the same group. This happened with Libya and Ireland Rep in Group K, and with Costa Rica and Côte d’Ivoire in Group L.
Upon completion of the draw, the bye dates for each team were selected. In each group, the team from pot 1 had the first choice, and the team from pot 2 selected from the remaining options. Below are the results of the draw, along with each team’s selected bye date: matchday 1, 2, or 3.
| GROUP PHASE |
| GROUP A |
|---|
| México, DF, Mexico |
| Korea Rep | 1 |
| Mexico | 2 |
| Sweden | 3 |
|
| GROUP B |
|---|
| Chicago, IL, United States |
| Netherlands | 2 |
| Czech Rep | 1 |
| Cameroon | 3 |
|
| GROUP C |
|---|
| Edmonton, AB, Canada |
| Belgium | 2 |
| Denmark | 1 |
| Togo | 3 |
|
| GROUP D |
|---|
| Atlanta, GA, United States |
| England | 2 |
| Portugal | 3 |
| Peru | 1 |
|
| GROUP E |
|---|
| Guadalupe, NL, Mexico |
| Germany | 2 |
| Panama | 1 |
| Papua New Guinea | 3 |
|
| GROUP F |
|---|
| Arlington, TX, United States |
| Italy | 1 |
| Guinea | 2 |
| China PR | 3 |
|
| GROUP G |
|---|
| Vancouver, BC, Canada |
| Uruguay | 1 |
| Canada | 2 |
| Montenegro | 3 |
|
| GROUP H |
|---|
| Orlando, FL, United States |
| Switzerland | 2 |
| New Zealand | 1 |
| France | 3 |
|
| GROUP I |
|---|
| Guadalajara, Jal, Mexico |
| Iran | 1 |
| Poland | 2 |
| Colombia | 3 |
|
| GROUP J |
|---|
| Inglewood, CA, United States |
| Argentina | 2 |
| Uzbekistan | 1 |
| Spain | 3 |
|
| GROUP K |
|---|
| Toronto, ON, Canada |
| Libya | 1 |
| Ireland Rep | 2 |
| Brazil | 3 |
|
| GROUP L |
|---|
| Landover, MD, United States |
| Costa Rica | 2 |
| Côte d’Ivoire | 1 |
| Greece | 3 |
|
| GROUP M |
|---|
| Puebla, Pue, Mexico |
| Australia | 1 |
| Congo DR | 2 |
| Slovenia | 3 |
|
| GROUP N |
|---|
| East Rutherford, NJ, United States |
| Japan | 2 |
| Egypt | 1 |
| Israel | 3 |
|
| GROUP O |
|---|
| Montréal, QC, Canada |
| Mali | 1 |
| Ukraine | 2 |
| Chile | 3 |
|
| GROUP P |
|---|
| Seattle, WA, United States |
| Hungary | 2 |
| United States | 1 |
| Gabon | 3 |
|
| ELIMINATION PHASE |
| ROUND OF 32 | ROUND OF 16 | QUARTERFINALS | SEMIFINALS | |
|---|
| | [1st group A] |
| | [2nd group B] |
|
| | [Winner rd-32 3] |
| | [Winner rd-32 4] |
|
| | [Winner rd-16 1] |
| | [Winner rd-16 2] |
|
| | [Winner QF 1] |
| | [Winner QF 2] |
|
| FINAL |
|---|
| | [Winner SF 1] |
| | [Winner SF 2] |
|
| | [1st group C] |
| | [2nd group D] |
|
| | [1st group E] |
| | [2nd group F] |
|
| | [Winner rd-32 6] |
| | [Winner rd-32 8] |
|
| | [1st group G] |
| | [2nd group H] |
|
| | [1st group I] |
| | [2nd group J] |
|
| | [Winner rd-32 11] |
| | [Winner rd-32 9] |
|
| | [Winner rd-16 6] |
| | [Winner rd-16 5] |
|
| | [1st group K] |
| | [2nd group L] |
|
| | [1st group M] |
| | [2nd group N] |
|
| | [Winner rd-32 15] |
| | [Winner rd-32 13] |
|
| | [1st group O] |
| | [2nd group P] |
|
| | [1st group B] |
| | [2nd group C] |
|
| | [Winner rd-32 2] |
| | [Winner rd-32 1] |
|
| | [Winner rd-16 4] |
| | [Winner rd-16 3] |
|
| | [Winner QF 3] |
| | [Winner QF 4] |
|
| | [1st group D] |
| | [2nd group A] |
|
| | [1st group F] |
| | [2nd group G] |
|
| | [Winner rd-32 7] |
| | [Winner rd-32 5] |
|
| | [1st group H] |
| | [2nd group E] |
|
| | [1st group J] |
| | [2nd group K] |
|
| | [Winner rd-32 12] |
| | [Winner rd-32 10] |
|
| | [Winner rd-16 7] |
| | [Winner rd-16 8] |
|
| | [1st group L] |
| | [2nd group I] |
|
| | [1st group N] |
| | [2nd group O] |
|
| | [Winner rd-32 14] |
| | [Winner rd-32 16] |
|
| | [1st group P] |
| | [2nd group M] |
|
| |
| THIRD PLACE |
|---|
| | [Loser SF 1] |
| | [Loser SF 2] |
|
