The 2026 World Cup will begin on June 11 with hosts Mexico playing South Africa at the Estadio Azteca, site of the 1970 and 1986 finals, followed by South Korea against a playoff winner after the draw was made on Friday.
South Africa is participating for the first time since 2010, when it tied with Mexico in the opening match but failed to reach the knockout stage.
Hosts the United States and Canada will join the party the next day, against Paraguay and a playoff winner, possibly Italy, respectively in Los Angeles and Toronto.
Defending champions Argentina are grouped with Algeria, Austria and Jordan, while five-time winners Brazil will play Morocco (semifinalists in 2022), Haiti and Scotland.
The Scots reach the finals for the first time since 1998, when they lost to Brazil in the opening match.
France’s first match will be against Senegal, in a repeat of one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, when the Africans stunned the then champions in their first match of the 2002 tournament.
England will start against Croatia, who beat them in the 2018 semi-finals, and will also face Panama, whom they beat 6-1 in the group stage of the same tournament.
Teams outside the host group will have to wait until Saturday to find out the venues and start times for their matches after FIFA attempts to optimize venues and start times in relation to different global television markets.
A newly introduced qualification system ensures that the world’s current top four – Spain, champions Argentina, 2022 runners-up France and England – cannot meet until the semi-final stage if they win their groups.
The 48 teams, including six yet-to-be-decided playoff winners, were divided into 12 groups of four to produce a mammoth 104-game schedule in 16 cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico, culminating with the final in New Jersey on July 19.
Venues and start times will be announced in another globally broadcast event on Saturday, although even that is subject to adjustment in March once all six playoff qualifying spots have been filled.
FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage draw:
Group ‘A’: Mexico, South Africa South Korea, European Playoff D
Group ‘B’: Canada, European Playoff A, Qatar, Switzerland
Group ‘C’: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
Group ‘D’: United States, Paraguay, Australia, European Playoff C
Group ‘E’: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group ‘F’: Netherlands, Japan, European Playoff B, Tunisia
Group ‘G’: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Group ‘H’: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Group ‘I’: France, Senegal, FIFA Playoff 2, Norway
Group ‘J’: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Group ‘K’: Portugal, FIFA Playoff 1, Uzbekistan, Colombia
Group ‘L’: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama
