Everything you need to know about the 2026 World Cup draw
The step-by-step process, the odds and the chances of the Argentine National Team on their way to defending their Qatar title.
Clarín Editorial Staff
0[start]
The football world will begin to buzz with excitement for the 2026 World Cup, expanded to 48 participants for the first time in history. The group stage draw will allow us to start"playing" with the probabilities regarding the Argentina National Team, who will be looking to defend the title won in Qatar 2022. Lionel Scaloni's team will be one of the twelve seeded players, including the three hosts Canada, Mexico and USA.
[*]
The event will take place on December 5th starting at 2:00 PM (Argentine time), at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC, United States.
[*]
Each pot contains 12 teams, based on the FIFA ranking. Pot 1 includes the national teams of the three host countries (Canada, Mexico, and the United States) and the nine highest-ranked teams, including Argentina. Six teams from Pot 4 will qualify through the playoffs in March 2026.
[*]
Sixteen European teams will compete for four spots. The international play-offs will feature six countries from CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, Asia, and Africa.
[*]
It has already been determined that the three hosts, Canada, Mexico, and the United States, will be placed in groups A, B, and D, respectively. The other pre-qualified teams will then be divided into the remaining groups.
[*]
Simple. FIFA will ensure, as far as possible, that no group has more than one team from the same confederation, with the sole exception of UEFA, represented by 16 teams. Therefore, four of the twelve groups will have two European teams.
Furthermore, Lionel Scaloni's team already knows a key detail in their quest to retain the Qatar 2022 title. FIFA, for the first time, has determined that the top four teams in the rankings cannot face each other until the decisive stages. Therefore, Spain, Argentina, France and England, provided they finish first in their group, will only face each other in the semi-finals. .
[*]
The opening match will feature the Mexican National Team. June 11 while The final will be on July 19th in New Jersey, which boasts the spectacular Met Life Stadium with a capacity of 82,500 spectators.
[*]
The tournament will feature 48 teams, divided into 12 groups of four. A round of 32 will be added, to which the first and second-place teams from each group, and the eight best third-place teams, will qualify.
[*]
[end]
