(WPRI) — Soccer fans around the world have been eagerly waiting to see who their country will face in the 2026 World Cup.
The Final Draw was held Friday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and participating teams learned which pathway they will follow in their quest to lift the trophy.
The purpose of the draw was to divide the 48-team field into 12 groups of four (Group A, Group B, Group C, and so on down to Group L). Balls corresponding with the competing countries were separated into four pots of 12, and each group included one team drawn from each pot.
Last week, FIFA released the final four pots for the teams taking part in the World Cup. Each pot is based on the FIFA men’s world rankings, with the three host countries — the United States, Canada and Mexico — being joined in Pot 1 by the nine next highest ranked teams.
The official pots were as follows:
- Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
- Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, IR 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, B, C and D, FIFA Play-Off Tournament 1 and 2
Here is how the groups shaped out:
Group A
- Mexico (host country)
- South Africa
- Korea Republic
- Winner of European Play-Off D
Group B
- Canada (host country)
- Winner of European Play-Off A
- Qatar
- Switzerland
Group C
- Brazil
- Morocco
- Haiti
- Scotland
Group D
- USA (host country)
- Paraguay
- Australia
- Winner of European Play-Off C
Group E
- Germany
- Curaçao
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Ecuador
Group F
- Netherlands
- Japan
- Winner of European Play-Off B
- Tunisia
Group G
- Belgium
- Egypt
- IR Iran
- New Zealand
Group H
- Spain
- Cabo Verde
- Saudi Arabia
- Uruguay
Group I
- France
- Senegal
- Winner of FIFA Play-Off 2
- Norway
Group J
- Argentina
- Algeria
- Austria
- Jordan
Group K
- Portugal
- Winner of FIFA Play-Off 1
- Uzbekistan
- Colombia
Group L
- England
- Croatia
- Ghana
- Panama
Centreville Bank Stadium held a watch party for the draw.
Since there are more teams in this World Cup than in previous years, there will be 104 games instead of 64 running from June 11 through July 19.
The tournament will be played in 16 host cities, including Boston. Seven games will be held at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro from June 13 to July 9, one of which will be a quarterfinal matchup.
The stadium is slated to undergo extensive renovations ahead of the tournament and will temporarily be named “Boston Stadium” for the World Cup matches.
Although the groupings are being announced on Friday, fans will have to wait until Saturday to find out which teams will be playing at Gillette and when.