FIFA men's World Cup is one of the most highly anticipated events in sports which held every four years.
The 2026 edition promises to be the biggest ever with 48 teams competing instead of usuall 32.
Here's everything you need to know about most awaited sporting event.
When is World Cup draw?
The 2026 World Cup group-stage draw is happening on Friday, December 5 at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington DC at 12 pm ET.
How will draw work?
The 48 World Cup teams will be placed into 12 groups of four. The teams first sorted into four "pots" based on their FIFA rankings and then teams from each pot are drawn one by one into the groups, starting with Pot 1, then Pot 2 and so on, to determine the group-stage matchups.
Host countries including the US, Mexico and Canada are top-seeded so they will not be placed in the same group as the strongest teams like Argentina, England, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Brazil, Belgium or Germany.
Meanwhile, Spain, Argentina, France and England, as the four highest-ranked teams, are placed together in the same pot for the draw, ensuring they cannot play each other until at least the semi-finals.
The draw seedings are as follows:
Pot 1: Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, United States, Mexico, Canada.
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia.
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa.
Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curacao, Haiti, New Zealand, European playoff winner 1, European playoff winner 2, European playoff winner 3, European playoff winner 4, Intercontinental playoff winner 1, Intercontinental playoff winner 2.
When and where is the World Cup?
The 2026 World Cup will run from June 11 to July 19, with games in 11 US stadiums, three in Mexico, and two in Canada.
The host countries automatically qualify and play all their group matches at home. The final will be held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey/New York.
All about tickets
Group-stage tickets for the 2026 World Cup start at $60 (£45), while final tickets can cost up to $6,730 (£5,094).
It is worth mentioning that prices may change based on demand with higher demands leading to higher prices.
World Cup tickets are being sold in three stages, each with different rules.
The first step, a Visa Presale Draw for people with a valid Visa card has now ended.
In the second phase, people who registered between October 27-31 were given specific times to buy tickets from November 12 to early December.
While, the third phase, a random draw for tickets, will start after the World Cup schedule is announced and fans can enter until January 13.
To participate, fans must have a FIFA ID, which can be created on FIFA.com/tickets.
