FIFA has announced that the 2026 World Cup draw will be held in December in Washington, United States of America.
The World Cup, expanded to 48 teams for the first time, will be played across three countries — USA, Mexico and Canada.
“On Friday, 5 December 2025, the world will discover the group-stage matches to be contested at the FIFA World Cup 26™, with all eyes set to converge on the Kennedy Center in Washington DC for the final draw,” the world football body stated last night.
“As announced by the President of the United States and Chairman of the Kennedy Center, Donald J. Trump, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the White House, the Kennedy Center will serve as the location for team officials, ambassadors, fans representing the tournament’s Host Cities and global media representatives, amongst others, to unite, as one of the major milestones on the path to the biggest and most engaging FIFA World Cup™ ever is held.
“The Kennedy Center is America’s national cultural centre and a
living memorial to President John F. Kennedy, attracting millions of visitors each year to more than 2,000 performances, events and exhibits.
“In December, the iconic FIFA World Cup Trophy will shine brightly at the venue as the world’s best national teams discover their next steps on the path to lifting the coveted crown at New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, 19 July next year.”
FIFA added that fans from each of the 16 host cities (two in Canada, three in Mexico and 11 in the United States) will be able to participate in a special lottery for the chance to win complimentary admission to the once-in-a-lifetime event, including a VIP experience.
A select number of admissions will be allocated to each host city, with the lottery procedures to be announced in due course.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said: “We are excited to host the most anticipated Final Draw for the FIFA World Cup in history in the cultural and entertainment heart of the United States, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
“The draw is a major tournament milestone and one that will continue the remarkable build-up to the biggest sporting event ever, as we get set for many landmark FIFA events across North America throughout 2026. We look forward to welcoming the team delegations, our partners, global media, and, uniquely, fans representing each of the 16 wonderful Host Cities, to the capital of the United States for this significant occasion.”
The draw will commence at 12:00 local time (5pm in Nigeria) and will be beamed to the three host countries and around the globe by FIFA’s media partners.
The teams representing the host countries will be assigned to positions A1 (Mexico), B1 (Canada) and D1 (USA), as per the match schedule released last year.
As well as the Final Draw for the FIFA World Cup 26 being staged in the US capital in December, the FIFA play-off tournament – a new event that will see six nations from five of the six confederations (with UEFA to hold a separate play-off competition for the final four European spots) compete for two places at the global extravaganza – will be hosted in North America in March next year.
In addition to the three host countries, ten nations have already qualified for next year’s FIFA World Cup: defending champions Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, IR Iran, Japan, Jordan – who are set to make their tournament debut – Korea Republic, New Zealand and first-timers Uzbekistan.
In total, 42 of the 48 teams that will compete in Canada, Mexico and the United States will be known by the time the draw is made, with the final six coveted berths to be determined via play-off matches in March next year.