Join our live commentary of the final draw to define the groups for the 2026 World Cup today at 9 a.m. from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. (Find live updates at the bottom, including our expected Bay Area participants based on previous FIFA schedule configurations.)
The 2026 World Cup will be hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada. For the first time in its history it will include 48 national teams, divided into 12 groups of four, set to be defined in the draw today. We know 42 of those teams, with the other six to be defined in two separate playoffs in March (one among 16 European teams, and another with six teams from other federations, to be held in Mexico).
The Bay Area is hosting six of these games at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. Based on current information and how FIFA has structured prior schedules, these are the potential matchups:
- Saturday, June 13: Match 8 – B3 vs. B4
- Thursday, June 16: Match 20 – J3 vs. J4 (or J1 vs J2)
- Friday, June 19: Match 31 – D2 vs. D4
- Monday, June 22: Match 44 – J2 vs. J4 (or J1 vs J3)
- Thursday, June 25: Match 60 – D2 vs. D3
- Wednesday, July 1: Match 81, Round of 32 – 1D vs. 3rd-place team (groups B, E, F, I, J)
For the draw, FIFA distributed all 48 teams in four different pots, defined by ranking (with the exception of the three host cities, which are in Pot 1, and the pending teams, all of which are in Pot 4). One team from each pot will be allocated to each of the 12 groups:
- Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany
- Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, Korea Republic, Ecuador, Austria and Australia
- Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Africa
- Pot 4: Jordan, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, European Playoff A, B, C and D, and FIFA Playoff 1 and 2
Final group allocations:
Group A: Mexico, A2, A3, A4
Group B: Canada, B2, B3*, B4*
Group C: C1, C2, C3, C4
Group D: United States, D2*, D3*, D4*
Group E: E1, E2, E2. E2
Group F: F1, F2, F3, F4
Group G: G1, G2, G3, G4
Group H: H1, H2, H3, H4
Group I: I1, I2, I3, I4
Group J: J1**, J2**, J3**, J4**
Group K: K1, K2, K3, K4
Group L: L1, L2, L3, L4
* Teams that will play in the Bay Area / **Teams that might potentially play in the Bay Area
Follow our live coverage of the 2026 World Cup draw below: