WASHINGTON — The nation's capital hosts the draw for the 2026 World Cup on Friday, determining the groups, matchups and venues for next summer's tournament in North America.

The United States men's national team has already been placed in Group D as a host and will learn its three opponents in the draw, a high-profile affair taking place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend and is expected to be handed the inaugural "FIFA Peace Prize," an award that was announced weeks after the president was not named the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

This edition of the draw features some new wrinkles as the field expands from 32 to 48 for the first time, with 12 groups and separate pathways for the world's four highest-ranked teams.

Follow for live updates as the 2026 World Cup draw unfolds:

What time is World Cup draw today?

The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw ceremony starts at noon ET on Friday, Dec. 5.

How to watch World Cup draw: TV channel, live stream

  • TV channel: Fox
  • Streaming: Live on FIFA.com and Fubo

2026 World Cup qualified teams

Entering the draw, 42 of the 48 spots in the field have been clinched. The final six spots will be decided in March's qualification playoffs.

Here are the teams qualified entering the draw:

  • Host nations: Canada, Mexico, United States
  • Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan
  • Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
  • Concacaf: Curaçao, Haiti, Panama
  • Europe: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland
  • Oceania: New Zealand
  • South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay

World Cup draw security ramped up

WASHINGTON — With President Trump and other heads of state and dignitaries scheduled to attend the World Cup draw, security is tight around the Kennedy Center in the nation’s capital.

Neighboring streets have been shut down all morning and media members are waiting in an hour-long line in the snow to get into the security perimeter.

How does World Cup draw work? Format, pots explained

Entering the draw, the 48 teams – 42 already clinched – are placed into four pots of 12 based on the November FIFA world rankings. The final six countries are in the fourth pot by default, no matter who ends up qualifying.

As the co-hosts, the USA, Canada and Mexico were placed into the first pot by default with the tournament's nine highest-ranked teams.

Other than Europe (16 places), no continental federation may have more than one team in each group.

FIFA changed the draw for 2026 to create separate pathways to the semifinals for the four-highest ranked teams: Spain, Argentina, France and England. That means if Spain and Argentina win their groups, the world's Nos. 1 and 2 teams can not meet prior to the final.

World Cup draw pots

  • Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
  • 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, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, UEFA playoff A, B, C and D, FIFA playoff tournament 1 and 2

See the Trump soccer ball

Among the sights at the 2026 World Cup draw at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. was a soccer ball with a painted face of United States of America President Donald Trump.

➤ PHOTOS: Trump and celebs gather for 2026 World Cup draw

2026 World Cup odds to win

Here are the latest odds for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, from BetMGM.com:

  1. Spain +400
  2. England +600
  3. France +650
  4. Brazil +750
  5. Argentina +800
  6. Portugal +1100
  7. Germany +1200
  8. Netherlands +1600
  9. Norway +2500
  10. Italy/Colombia +3300

Note: Host nations Canada, Mexico and the United States are all +6600

2026 World Cup schedule

  • Group stage: June 11-June 27
  • Round of 32: June 28-July 3
  • Round of 16: July 4-July 7
  • Quarterfinals: July 9-July 11
  • Semifinals: July 14-15 – AT&T Stadium (Arlington, Texas) and Mecedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta)
  • Third-place match: July 18 – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens
  • World Cup final: July 19 – MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

World Cup draw gets assist from Tom Brady and other sports mega-stars

The FIFA World Cup 2026 draw, which will take place at the iconic John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Dec. 5, will feature a star-studded lineup of athletes assisting former England captain Rio Ferdinand.

The event, which will be broadcast on Fox, features Ferdinand and Samantha Johnson as hosts.

They will have notable assistants for the draw, including seven-time NFL Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, four-time NBA championship winner and Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal, NHL Hall of Famer and four-time Stanley Cup champion Wayne Gretzky, and seven-time MLB All-Star Aaron Judge. Additionally, two-time NFL Super Bowl champion Eli Manning will serve as the red carpet host, making a special appearance to enhance the unique experience for fans watching.

2026 World Cup weather will be a concern

England manager Thomas Tuchel said he might keep his substitutes in the dressing room during matches at the 2026 World Cup next summer in an attempt to mitigate the impact of extreme heat.

"If this helps the players later in the match, we have to consider it," Tuchel told BBC Sport on Thursday.

"Nobody likes it because I want the players to be out there, feeling the energy and bringing it from the bench on to the pitch. But I saw players doing this at the Club World Cup. Hopefully we can avoid it," the manager added.

Scorching heat was a major concern at the Club World Cup in the U.S. last June, when medical experts and players' unions expressed concerns about heat stress, dehydration and slower recovery times.

Tuchel admitted that this would be problematic for high-level football, saying it would reduce the intensity of matches in the global event co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. — Reuters

Has MLS become a 'league of choice'?

MLS commissioner Don Garber said the arrival of elite players such as Lionel Messi have helped the sport cement its place in a crowded U.S. market, as anticipation builds across the country for Friday's World Cup draw in Washington.

Garber said real progress had been made in recent years, fueled in part by the arrival of Lionel Messi in 2023.

"On the field, our league is more global than ever before," Garber said at a news conference on Thursday.

"Our roster features players from 80 different countries. More than any other league in any sport around the world. And global superstars, as we all know, are making MLS their league of choice," — Reuters

New World Cup was necessary, FIFA says

FIFA's chief of global football development Arsene Wenger backed the move to 48 teams, saying demand to participate was growing and that the quality gap between nations had narrowed.

"The evolution is always more teams want to participate. And now I believe that 48 teams is the right number," he said, noting it still represented less than a quarter of FIFA's 211 member associations.

"I was a bit scared before because maybe the difference between the teams will be too big. In fact, we realized that the difference quality-wise has been reduced." – Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: World Cup draw live updates: Time, 2026 FIFA group pots, where to watch

Reporting by Jesse Yomtov and Jim Reineking, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect