World Cup 2026 Pots Revealed by FIFA Ahead of Draw for Historic Tournament

FIFA announced Tuesday the four pots that will be used to make the draw for the 2026 World Cup.

The 48 countries will be drawn into 12 groups of four, and the groups will have one team from each pot.

As the co-hosts, the trio Canada, Mexico and the United States are in Pot 1.

2026 World Cup Pots

Pot 1

• Canada
• Mexico
• USA
• Spain
• Argentina
• France
• England
• Brazil
• Portugal
• Netherlands
• Belgium
• Germany

Pot 2

• Croatia
• Morocco
• Colombia
• Uruguay
• Switzerland
• Japan
• Senegal
• Iran
• Korea Republic
• Ecuador
• Austria
• Australia

Pot 3

• Norway
• Panama
• Egypt
• Algeria
• Scotland
• Paraguay
• Tunisia
• Côte d'Ivoire
• Uzbekistan
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• South Africa

Pot 4

• Jordan
• Cabo Verde
• Ghana
• Curaçao
• Haiti
• New Zealand
• European Play-Off A
• European Play-Off B
• European Play-Off C
• European Play-Off D
• FIFA Play-Off Tournament 1
• FIFA Play-Off Tournament 2

The draw will unfold Dec. 5 in Washington, D.C., but the full World Cup field won't be finalized until mid-March.

Four spots are still up for grabs within the UEFA confederation. These are the four matchups to be decided on March 31:

• Wales/Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Italy/Northern Ireland
• Ukraine/Sweden vs. Poland Albania
• Slovakia/Kosovo vs. Türkiye/Romania
• Czech Republic/Republic of Ireland vs. Denmark/North Macedonia

The remaining confederations are competing in their own play-off:

• Congo DR vs. New Caledonia/Jamaica
• Iraq vs. Bolivia/Suriname

In terms of the pots, Italy will be the one country everybody wants to avoid if the four-time champion qualifies. The Azzurri's issues are evident by the fact they fell into the play-off, but they're still ranked 12th in the world.

Getting Norway out of Pot 3 could be just as perilous. Erling Haaland is the best striker in the world, and the 4-1 demolition of Italy on Nov. 16 showed this is more than just a one-man team.

Increasing the field to 48 teams will remove some of the early danger in the group stage, though.

Under the 36-team format, only the top two in each group advanced to the knockout stages. Now, the eight best third-place finishers will get to move on as well.