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FIFA unveiled its World Cup groupings at a star-studded event in Washington, DC, on Friday.
With the help of President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, NFL legend Tom Brady, NBA great Shaquille O’Neal, New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge and the NHL’s greatest player of all time, Wayne Gretzky, all 12 groups were announced.
All of the aforementioned individuals selected random balls containing the countries’ names, and their selections assigned them to their groups. Trump, Sheinbaum and Carney all chose their own countries’ names to begin the process.
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President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hold their countries’ cards during the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington on December 5, 2025. (Stephanie Scarbrough, Pool/AP Photo)
Brady picked the teams in Pot 1, O’Neal picked Pot 2’s team, and Judge and Gretzky had Pot 3 and 4, respectively.
While the groups were created on Friday, six of the 48 teams taking part will not be known until March 2026. Four of them come from the 16-team UEFA play-offs.
The countries competing in the UEFA play-offs are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Northern Macedonia, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales.
The remaining two places will be decided at the FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off tournament. The six teams competing in that tournament are Bolivia, DR Congo, Iraq, Jamaica, New Caledonia and Suriname.
AMERICAN MULTINATIONAL TEAMS GET favorable group matches in World Cup draw
(L/R) FIFA President Gianni Infantino, US President Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stand on stage during the draw for the 2026 FIFA Football World Cup held in the United States, Canada and Mexico, at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, DC on December 5, 2025. (Stephanie Scarbrough/POOL/AFP)
Below are all 12 groups:
Group A
Mexico
South Africa
Republic of Korea
Winner UEFA Play-off D
Group B
Canada
Winner UEFA Play-off A
Qatar
Switzerland
Group C
Brazil
Morocco
Haiti
Scotland
Group D
USA
Paraguay
Australia
Winner UEFA Play-off C
Group E
Germany
Curaçao
Côte d’Ivoire
Ecuador
Group F
The Netherlands
Japan
Winner UEFA Play-off B
Tunisia
Group G
Belgium
Egypt
IR Iran
New Zealand
Group H
Spain
Cape Verde
Saudi Arabia
Uruguay
Group I
France
Senegal
Winner FIFA Play-off 2
Norway
Group J
Argentina
Algeria
Austria
Jordan
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Alejandro Zendejas (17) scores a goal and celebrates with Max Arfsten (18), Cristian Roldan (24) and Christian Pulisic (10) during an international friendly between Japan and the USMNT at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio on September 9, 2025. (Robin Alam/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
Group K
Portugal
Winner FIFA Play-off 1
Uzbekistan
Colombia
Group L
England
Croatia
Ghana
Panama
