World Cup draw: All smiles for hosts, Mbappe and Haaland clash

It was almost 90 minutes behind schedule. There were multiple musical numbers. FIFA president Gianni Infantino delivered a speech before awarding a new "Peace Prize" to his close friend, U.S. President Donald Trump. Hollywood-inspired pomp and circumstance dominated proceedings. But, after all that, the 2026 World Cup draw is finally complete. View the groups below.

Group A

UEFA Playoff D: Denmark, North Macedonia, Czechia, or Ireland

Though the entire World Cup schedule won't be revealed until Saturday, we now know one thing for certain: Mexico will open the tournament against South Africa at the Estadio Azteca. The final spot in the group will be determined in March 2026, when all the European and intercontinental playoffs take place to determine the final six World Cup berths.

Group B

UEFA Playoff A: Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, or Bosnia and Herzegovina

Should Italy advance through its UEFA playoff path, the Azzurri will return to the tournament for the first time since 2014 with a match against Canada in Toronto. The city's sizable Canadian-Italian population will have some decisions to make about what shirt color to don for the contest.

Group C

Carlo Ancelotti's Brazil won't have it easy in Group C. Morocco, which finished fourth at the 2022 World Cup, will provide a massive test, while Scotland is back at the tournament for the first time in 28 years and will be spurred on by a boisterous Tartan Army.

Group D

UEFA Playoff C: Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, or Kosovo

Mauricio Pochettino has to be happy with this. The result of the European playoff could certainly make this quartet more difficult depending on how it unfolds, but in Paraguay and Australia, the suddenly high-flying United States will take on two teams that it recently defeated in friendly matches.

Group E

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The Germans stumbled a little bit in qualifying, but ultimately got the job done and now stand out as the favorite to advance from Group E. Ecuador's resolute defense will be very difficult to break down, and the Ivorians have all the talent necessary to cause major upsets in the group, but both of those sides will fancy their chances against tiny tournament debutant Curacao.

Group F

UEFA Playoff B: Ukraine, Sweden, Poland, or Albania

This could sneakily end up being one of the most interesting groups of the entire tournament, with both the Netherlands and Japan playing refined styles that will be easy on the eyes. Tunisia, a perennial World Cup contender that is always among Africa's most stout teams, will push them all the way.

Group G

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah will see plenty of familiar faces when the Egyptian star and his teammates take on Belgium in what is arguably the most interesting Group G contest. Iran and New Zealand meet one another in their first match, which should create a perfect group dynamic where they both come out knowing that anything less than victory in the opener could be devastating for their chances of advancing.

Group H

Tough break for first-timer Cape Verde and 2034 World Cup host Saudi Arabia, as matchups with Spain and Uruguay are about as daunting as they come in the same group. Soccer's greatest spectacle always delivers some stunners, though, and the Saudis will look to replicate what they did to eventual champion Argentina in 2022.

Group I

Intercontinental Playoff 2: Iraq, Bolivia, or Suriname

This is probably the big one for neutral viewers. Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland, arguably the two most singularly dominant forwards in the sport today, will clash when title hopeful France battles a loaded Norwegian side that steamrolled its competition in qualifying en route to reaching the World Cup for the first time since 1998. Don't overlook Senegal, though: the Lions of Teranga have priors when it comes to World Cup matchups with France.

Group J

Assuming Lionel Messi plays at the World Cup - he remains coy on his status whenever he's asked - the Argentine icon and his compatriots will be loving what transpired at the draw. The reigning World Cup champion got paired with just one European nation and looks, at least on paper, like an overwhelming mismatch for either Algeria or Jordan.

Group K

Intercontinental Playoff 1: DR Congo, Jamaica, or New Caledonia

Cristiano Ronaldo, meanwhile, didn't get quite so lucky thanks to Portugal being paired with the extremely talented Colombians. But the all-time top scorer in men's international soccer, free to play in the tournament despite his red card in qualifying, could certainly add to his record tally in this group.

Group L

England versus Croatia is another of the standout matches in the group stage. Thomas Tuchel's loaded squad is being tipped as one of the tournament favorites, and with good reason, so Luka Modric and his battle-tested Croatian teammates will provide a perfect early test that could give a good indication of just how legitimate the Three Lions' title aspirations are.

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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