FIFA World Cup 2026 draw live updates: USMNT to open with Paraguay, also get Australia in Group D

The 2026 World Cup participants will find out their paths on Friday during the much-anticipated draw

With 188 days to go before the tournament kicks off in Mexico City, the participants of the 23rd FIFA World Cup will discover their fates on Friday afternoon as the Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., plays host to the finals draw.

In total 64 nations will be watching on waiting to discover if the balls roll in their favor, the 42 who have already booked their place in the competition and the remainder who will duke it out for one of the last six spots early next year. As hosts, the USA, Mexico and Canada know slightly more than the rest about what is ahead of them, but only in so far as they know which group they will be welcoming their opponents into. While the draw is airing on Fox in the United States you can react to who the U.S. gets, with our CBS Sports Golazo Matchday crew who will be on air starting at 12 p.m. ET following the results live.

The U.S. will be in Group D, their game's taking place on the west coast of America, while Mexico are in Group A and Canada Group B. All three sit with the top seeds in Pot One, meaning that the hosts will avoid big names such as Brazil, Argentina and France in the group stage at least. The groups will be rounded out from one team from each of the remaining pots, which are laid out below:

• Pot One: USA, Mexico, Canada, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
• Pot Two: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
• Pot Three: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
• Pot Four: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curacao, Haiti, New Zealand, European qualifiers x4, intercontinental qualifiers x2

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Pardeep Cattry

No two nations from the same federation can be drawn against each other in the group stages so, for instance, Panama will not be able to be drawn in Groups A, B and D. The one exception to this is Europe, who will have 16 teams at the competition. Four of the 12 groups will contain two representatives from UEFA.

The draw is due to begin at 12 p.m. ET, beginning with the divvying out of Pot One across Groups A to L. From there, it may take some time before the shape of the World Cup is confirmed, with a host of special guests joining draw conductor and Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand. Among them will be some of the biggest names in American sport: Tom Brady, Shaquille O'Neal, Aaron Judge and Wayne Gretzky will be in charge of the pots. FIFA has also confirmed that the heads of state of each of the host nations -- Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney, President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum and President of the United States Donald J. Trump -- will be at the Kennedy Center.

Check out what a potential draw could look like for the USMNT. And here is how it could look for Mexico.

Stay tuned for all the action and analysis as it happens as well as updates from our reporters on the ground in the nation's capitol.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 12:43 pm ET · James Benge]

• Group A: Mexico, Korea Republic, South Africa
• Group B: Canada, Switzerland, Qatar
• Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland
• Group D: USA, Australia, Paraguay
• Group E: Germany, Ecuador, Ivory Coast
• Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia
• Group G: Belgium, Iran, Egypt
• Group H: Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia
• Group I: France, Senegal, Norway
• Group J: Argentina, Austria, Algeria
• Group K: Portugal, Colombia, Uzbekistan
• Group L: England, Croatia, Panama

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:55 pm ET · James Benge]

Group E you're a toughie but right now Group I with Mbappe, Haaland and Nicolas Jackson is looking pretty rough indeed. Meanwhile Group C, I've got my eye on you with space for a European side.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:51 pm ET · James Benge]

They're back together just like they were in 1998. Indeed this is three-quarters of Group A from France 1998, my personal World Cup as any tournament must be for an eight year old! At least Scotland, Brazil and Morocco don't have to worry about Norway joining them.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:48 pm ET · James Benge]

Paraguay. Drawn for Group C, they cannot find themselves in the same quartet as Brazil so they jump along one. Ivory Coast do too. As for the USMNT though, look that's looking pretty decent, isn't it?

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:47 pm ET · James Benge]

There are factors now. Many, many factors. Remember there can only be two teams from Europe in any group. From every other confederation it's one and done. This will get more complex as we go but keep an eye on the groups in full above.

And Mexico's opener is confirmed, the tournament's too. June 11 at the Azteca, Mexico vs. South Africa.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:44 pm ET · James Benge]

England will open up their World Cup against Croatia in a repeat of the 2018 semifinal. That's one of a string of big games from a pot where the USA will feel really rather happy given that they've got probably the weakest team in the field, Australia. This part of the draw really is rattling along. If only that approach had been taken with the previous 90 minutes.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:41 pm ET · James Benge]

Two champions, two of the best teams in their respective pots, the final game of the group. That is pretty intriguing. And Shaq follows that up with a rerun of the 2002 opener, France vs. Senegal.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:38 pm ET · James Benge]

Australia! I mean, you probably wouldn't complain about that if you're Mauricio Pochettino.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:37 pm ET · James Benge]

We're about to find out the US' first opponent... but it won't be Morocco. The 2022 semifinalists are drawn with Brazil, who they will play first!

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:36 pm ET · James Benge]

Mexico vs. Korea Republic. That won't be Mexico's first game. It will be a good one though!

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:34 pm ET · James Benge]

Now is where the fun starts. Watch out for Morocco and Japan folks. If I might editorialise a bit, those are the teams you really don't want.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:32 pm ET · James Benge]

Plenty of travel and potentially hot days for the Germans, who will be playing in hot cities such as Houston and Kansas City while still potentially travelling to Toronto. Meanwhile France will find themselves predominantly playing on the east coast. Nowhere is going to be too cool then but at least bouncing around East Rutherford, Foxborough, Philadelphia and Toronto doesn't put too many miles in the legs.

England, meanwhile, will be among the teams who are very happy with their group. Win it and they'll get a third place team.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:27 pm ET · James Benge]

Keep an eye on our pinned post where I'll be dropping in the draw in full! Brazil are first out and they go into Group C.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:23 pm ET · James Benge]

It can't go on like this, can it? It can (mickmccarthy.gif). We're legitimately approaching a full 90 minutes and Heidi Klum has "one more surprise."

Oh thank heavens. It might actually be that we're getting to a proper draw. Here come four sporting greats: Shaquille O'Neal, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky and Aaron Judge. They will be in charge of the four pots. They're even standing over them. Just a tiny, tiny, bit of the smallest of talk. Then, maybe, we can go.

Oh no... Rio's forgotten his pen.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:14 pm ET · James Benge]

The conductor of the draw takes the stage as we finally, finally, finally inch towards some football matches being scheduled. And if the latest "it's football, not soccer" bit is anything to go on, we can trust Ferdinand to lead this draw with all the charisma and verve of a smashed pane of glass.

We're not talking about these skits. We simply are not.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:09 pm ET · James Benge]

And it's a medley I'd very much be enjoying most of the time, it's just a bit incongruous hearing Lauryn Hill's hype guy shouting "FIFA make some noise". Hill is customarily masterful of proceedings, it's just that the proceedings are not taking balls out of pots, twisting those balls, extracting the scrap of paper and reading it out. Please. I beg. No more Carli Lloyd interludes. Just fixture scheduling.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 1:02 pm ET · James Benge]

Now that is never a bad thing. Never at all. We are, however, overrunning at such a rate that by the time we're done we'll probably have that follow up to Miseducation.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 12:56 pm ET · James Benge]

There's always that little frisson of fear that this might go wrong but Prime Minister Carney successfully draws Canada into B1. Mexico and the USA follow. We're up and running.

[Dec 4, 2025 at 1:28 pm ET · James Benge]

Of course the games will be dropping thick and fast but if you've got a ticket or simply no plans this summer, you'll have to wait a little while longer to find out who is playing when. FIFA has confirmed that the fixture list will be unveiled on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET. The governing body said:

Unveiled by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who will be joined on stage by FIFA Legends, and in the audience, by representatives of all 42 qualified teams as well as those still in contention, the reveal show promises to be one of the most significant moments on the road to 2026. Throughout the show, expert insights and reactions will be offered, breaking down the match-ups, analysing key storylines and providing perspectives on the host venues that will welcome the world in June and July next year.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 12:49 pm ET · James Benge]

"You can clap because this is the last time you will see me on stage," he says. Don't tempt me with a good time chief.

He now brings out "three great draw assistants". They are the Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney, the President of Mexico Claudia Sheinbaum and the President of the USA Donald Trump.

Before today I didn't know it was possible to be both irritatingly obsequious and inappropriately chaotic.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 12:38 pm ET · James Benge]

A relatively brief speech from Trump, welcomed with gushing praise from Infantino.

"This is truly one of the great honors of my life," he says. Trump goes on to note conflicts that have been ended and tension between India and Pakistan, which he says was ended before it started.

"You're going to have an event the likes of which the world has never seen," he says of the World Cup. "The coordination, friendship and relationship [with co-hosts Mexico and Canada] has been fantastic. I want to thank everybody. The world is a safer place now. A year ago the United States wasn't doing too well. Now we're one of the hottest countries. I'd like to keep it that way."

[Dec 5, 2025 at 12:31 pm ET · James Benge]

President Donald J. Trump is the winner of the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize "for his exceptional actions taken across the world". Four US marines are on hand to deliver the trophy itself, four hands reaching up to a globe. Infantino returns to stage to welcome President Trump.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 12:29 pm ET · James Benge]

Now I'm seeing why the CBS Sports editors had me on the blog. I am the only person on staff who knows Robbie Williams, probably the biggest British pop star of the last 30 years. And if there's one thing more famous than Angels, it's the fact that Robbie Williams never made it in America. And still, he's on stage performing by some distance the worst thing I've ever heard him perform. And he performed this.

Meanwhile in the work slack...

[Dec 5, 2025 at 12:21 pm ET · James Benge]

Infantino has the Americans in the crowd chanting "USA! USA!" Then it's time for the Canadians to chant "Canada! Canada! Canada!". So surely by then the poor Mexicans must know what's coming. I really cannot believe what I'm watching here. This is a guy who really needs to beef up his material in time for the Riyadh comedy festival.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 12:16 pm ET · James Benge]

"Hello," he says. "I didn't hear you," he adds in pursuit of greater applause. This, for those of you unaware, is Gianni Infaninto, president of FIFA, who he refers to as "the official happiness provider for humanity since over 100 years". Tell that to the Dutch.

Infantino welcomes the heads of state of the US, Mexico and Canada, who are on hand for the draw. Of course this is a mere prelude to what the FIFA president terms "the greatest event that mankind has ever seen and will ever see". So I suppose hopes are not particularly high for the centenary tournament then?

[Dec 5, 2025 at 12:10 pm ET · James Benge]

Nessun Dorma. The World Cup anthem, particularly if you're a Brit who happens to have even the vaguest memory of Italia 90. Or perhaps you were like me and your parents got very into Pavarotti after that particular World Cup and your earliest childhood memories seem to involve the big guy. That's the joy of the World Cup. It gets tied up in all your childhood memories. I can still see Cafu's cross deflecting in off Tommy Boyd.

Between that and memories of Claudio Ranieri crying on the pitch as his Leicester City title winners were serenaded by this man himself, we're getting all the flashbacks here.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 11:58 am ET · James Benge]

I think. Look I'll square with you, out here in the UK we've still got the UK Championships of the snooker on the BBC. Neil Robertson's just beaten Pang Junxu. That was a good match that. Anyway, yes, World Cup. Any minute now.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 11:49 am ET · James Benge]

We have Pardeep Cattry and Chuck Booth at the Kennedy Center, just about. By all accounts it has been pretty arduous getting into the draw with tales of an hour to 90 minutes waiting in the D.C. snow. On this side of the Atlantic, I've just turned the central heating up. Might get a fire going and maybe crack open a non-alcoholic beer. Make an evening of it, y'know.

[Dec 5, 2025 at 11:38 am ET · James Benge]

Look there are an awful, awful lot of teams to think about over the next few hours. And no doubt you'll all have an eye on the hosts but who are the other teams who could define this draw? Here's a few:

The big four

Now of course there are more than four teams who might win the World Cup. Brazil, Germany, perhaps Portugal too deserve to be considered as serious contenders. But the quartet of Spain, France, Argentina and England are the ones to look out for. Not only are they probably the best teams out there but they have all been afforded something akin to seeding. If they top their groups then they cannot meet until the semifinals. Top-ranked Spain and second Argentina cannot meet until the final. If things go as expected the former would run into England in the semis as they did at the Euro 2024 final while it'd be a rematch of Lusail 2022 between France and Argentina in the semis.

2022 semifinalists

Two teams you should really want to avoid from Pot Two: Croatia and Morocco, both of whom reached the last four at the last World Cup in Qatar. The latter are on an 18 game winning run and if anything are even better than they were when they knocked out Spain and Portugal. As for Croatia, their 'golden generation' (that hasn't actually won anything) still refuses to retire. This surely is the last dance for Luka Modric et al, who still haven't won a tournament game in normal time, a streak without a 90 minute win going back to 1998. In that time, mind, they've been to a World Cup final and finished third in another.

Debutants

There are four teams participating in their first ever World Cup, two of whom were benefactors from the automatic qualification of hosts Mexico, the USA and Canada. That shouldn't diminish the achievements of Cape Verde and Curacao, the latter the smallest nation in terms of population and size to qualify for the tournament. And they did still do that at the expense of bigger names such as Jamaica and Costa Rica. Uzbekistan and Jordan did similar in Asia, where they were three more extra qualification spots available. Then again these two managed to get through at the earliest possible opportunity. 

[Dec 5, 2025 at 11:12 am ET · James Benge]

Well that is until the big show itself starts. If you're now to the arrangement of football fixtures in this format you should probably know, you might want to wait a while for this. We're expecting the show itself to start at the John F. Kennedy Center at 12 p.m. ET with formalities and events aplenty. The actual drawing of the nations themselves? We're expecting that to be up and running some time around 12:55 p.m.