Live: Follow World Cup draw as groups are revealed

FIFA is conducting the draw for the supersized 2026 World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Follow along with our live coverage. Pull down the page to refresh.

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12:45 p.m. ET - At long last, we're ready! The World Cup trophy is on stage, and the draw itself is (finally) set to begin. Let's go.

12:35 p.m. ET - No actual draw yet, but FIFA president Gianni Infantino just awarded the governing body's inaugural "Peace Prize" to his close friend, U.S. President Donald Trump. There's a (gaudy) trophy and everything. He even gave him a medal. Trump called the award one of the biggest honors of his life during a brief speech. This is what we all came here for, right?

12:30 p.m. ET - We're waiting, FIFA. The World Cup draw technically began at 12 p.m. ET, but it's been all pomp and circumstance thus far. Iconic Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli got the party going with his latest rousing rendition of "Nessun Dorma," but his was just the first musical number, as Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger then performed the official tournament anthem. Oh, and Infantino used the time between the performances to deliver a speech in which he called this World Cup the "greatest event that humanity will ever see." Not long to go now until this gets started - we hope! - and we learn the 12 groups that will feature at next summer's tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

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Group E

Group F

Group G

Group H

Group I

Group J

Group K

Group L

To learn more about each team that's qualified so far, tap here.

World Cup schedule

FIFA will unveil the World Cup schedule, complete with specific venues and kickoff times for each match, during a separate event that begins Saturday at 12 p.m. ET. This story will be updated once the full schedule is available.

To date, we know that Mexico's iconic Estadio Azteca will stage the opening fixture of the tournament on June 11, 2026. The World Cup, which will feature 104 total matches across 16 stadiums, runs as follows:

• Group stage: June 11-27
• Round of 32: June 28-July 3
• Round of 16: July 4-7
• Quarterfinals: July 8-11
• Semifinals: July 14-15
• Third-place match: July 18
• Final: July 19

The final will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

How will it all work?

The World Cup will feature 48 teams for the first time in the event's storied 95-year history, officially making this the biggest edition in soccer history. Expansion from the 32-team format, which had been used since 1998, means there will be more of everything in North America next summer: teams, players, games, and permutations to follow.

The top two teams from each of the 12 groups will advance to the single-elimination knockout stage, as in previous years. But this time, they'll be joined by the eight best third-placed teams from the group stage, creating a knockout bracket that features 32 teams instead of the usual 16.

If third-placed teams from the various groups are tied on points, the following tiebreakers will be used, in order, to determine who advances to the knockout stage: goal difference, total goals scored, conduct score (yellow and red card accumulation), and, finally, FIFA ranking.

Every knockout game from the round of 32 through the World Cup final is winner-take-all. If a match is tied after 90 minutes, the teams will play 30 minutes of extra time, split into 15-minute halves. If there's still no winner from there, a penalty shootout will be used, as it was in the 2022 World Cup final when Lionel Messi and Argentina defeated France.

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