As 2025 winds down, sports fans are starting to shift focus toward the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
We’ll officially be one step closer to the event this week, as FIFA will hold its World Cup draw at 11 a.m. Friday at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The draw will determine each competing team’s path, setting up opponents, host cities and the tournament’s initial schedule.
For those in need of a reminder, 48 teams will compete in the 2026 World Cup. Those teams will be divided into 12 groups of four on Friday.
Looking to keep up with the World Cup draw? Here’s a look at what fans should know about the event:
Sports Roundup
How to watch the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw
Date: Friday, Dec. 5
Time: 11:00 a.m. (CT)
TV: Fox (English); Telemundo (Spanish)
Streaming: Fubo, FIFA+, FIFA on YouTube
How does the FIFA World Cup draw work?
The Dallas Morning News’ Abraham Nudelstejer broke down the process for the World Cup draw last month. Competing teams will be placed into four pots for the draw based on FIFA rankings and their host status.
That means the U.S., Mexico and Canada are in Pot 1 with the top nine FIFA-ranked teams. Here’s a closer look at Nudelstejer’s breakdown:
Pot 1: Hosts (USA, Mexico, Canada) plus top nine FIFA-ranked teams.
Pots 2, 3: Mid-ranked nations.
Pot 4: The lowest-ranked teams plus playoff winners.
Restrictions: No more than two UEFA teams can be in the same group, and no other nation will meet a team from its qualifying confederation during the group stage.
Seeded teams: These are the teams predetermined to head each of the 12 groups (Pot 1): Argentina, Brazil, France, England, Spain, Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, United States, Mexico, and Canada.
Draw procedure: Balls representing teams are drawn from pots to assign them into groups. The suspense lies in which nations will face each other in the opening rounds.
Which teams are competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
As of Monday, 42 of 48 teams have secured their spot in the summer tournament. The six remaining spots will be decided at an intercontinental tournament playoff and the UEFA playoffs in March 2026.
Here’s a look at the teams that have qualified for the World Cup:
Co-hosts: Canada, Mexico, USA
AFC (Asia): Australia, IR Iran, Japan, Jordan, Korea Republic, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan
CAF (Africa): Algeria, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
Concacaf (North America, Central America and the Caribbean): Curaçao, Haiti, Panama
CONMEBOL (South America): Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
OFC (Oceania): New Zealand
UEFA (Europe): Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland
How to buy FIFA World Cup tickets
FIFA World Cup tickets are already on sale. The safest way to acquire tickets is through the official FIFA website.
Back in September, FIFA unveiled a multi-step process to buy tickets for the event. Ticket options for the event include single-match tickets, single-venue tickets and team-specific tickets to follow a country’s team throughout the tournament.
In October, FIFA announced that more than 1 million tickets had already been sold.
Find more information on the ticket-buying process here.
When will FIFA World Cup matches take place at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium?
Here’s a look at dates for World Cup matches at AT&T Stadium:
Group stage: June 14, June 17, June 22, June 25 and June 27
Round of 32: June 30, July 3
Round of 16: July 6
Semifinal: July 14
More FIFA World Cup news
— Iran boycotting World Cup draw citing visa restrictions for soccer officials
— Dallas-Fort Worth included in bid for Women’s World Cup in 2031
— What North Texans need to know about the 2026 World Cup Draw on Dec. 5
— FIFA celebrates grand opening of World Cup 2026 volunteer center at Fair Park
— See which teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup after latest qualifying matches
Find more World Cup coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.