FIFA World Cup 2026 Groups Finalized Following Draw

Earlier last week, the much awaited draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026 took place.

The ceremony started with hosts, Kevin Hart and Heidi Klum welcoming everyone before FIFA President, Giovanni Infantino took center stage. Soon after, one of the more impactful events of the evening occurred with US President Donald Trump being awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize. Soon after, in commemoration of the hosts, Trump, alongside Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum and Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, drew their respective nations, all in Pot 1, into groups with Mexico being allocated in Group A, Canada in Group B and USA in Group D.

Following this, legendary Man United defender Rio Ferdinand, alongside presenter Samantha Jones, arrived on stage to conduct the main phase of the draw show, featuring a myriad of athletes worldwide including NFL Legend Tom Brady, basketball star, Shaquille O’Neal among others.

FIFA has created a new rule for the upcoming tournament in that there are separate pathways for the four top-ranked teams

Record 5 time winners Brazil were the first team to be drawn, being allocated to Group B with Morocco, Scotland and first-timer Haiti rounding up the bracket. Current champions Argentina, on the other hand find themselves on the other side in Group J as England were the final team chosen from Pot 1 thus categorized into Group L, consisting of Ghana, Panama and Modric’s Croatia.

People have rejoiced in the fact that South Africa is also a part of Group A, meaning that the opening match will be between hosts, Mexico vs South Africa, a replay of the opener of the 2010 World Cup, making people reminisce about the magic of Tshabalala.

The rest of the night concluded with star-studded matchups as Netherlands and Japan face off in Group F, while European Champions Spain will face two-time winners Uruguay in Group H. However, Group I seems to be the one to look out for with many dubbing it the “Group of Death” as it includes a strong Senegal squad, an in-form Norway and 2018 Champions and last edition’s runner-up in France with the 4th team either being Bolivia, Iraq or Suriname, depending upon the results of the remaining playoffs.

Fans worldwide are also buzzing for a potential Argentina vs Portugal quarter-final matchup

Besides the introduction of the new 48 team format, FIFA has created a new rule for the upcoming tournament in that there are separate pathways for the four top-ranked teams in the world today. Therefore, should they win all their groups, the highest ranked team in Spain cannot face the 2nd highest in Argentina until the final as they have been drawn into completely opposite pathways with France and England having the same constraints being the 3rd and 4th ranked squads respectively.

This means that if Thomas Tuchel’s men top their group, they’ll face the third-placed team from Group E/H/I/J/K. From that point, things are expected to get tougher with reports predicting a showdown vs Mexico in the RO16 before overcoming the South American gauntlet of Brazil and Argentina in the quarters and semis in their path to the final against Spain or France.

Fans worldwide are also buzzing for a potential Argentina vs Portugal quarter-final matchup should both top their groups, in what is expected to be the last dance for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo on the international stage.