Preparations for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA are slowly entering the hot phase. The next highlight is on Friday with the draw for the World Cup groups.
sport.de accompanies the ceremony from Washington DC from 6 p.m in the extensive live blog.
+++ First look at Washington +++
Everything is prepared in Washington. In the last few minutes, the stars of the football world walked the red carpet there. Icons like Ronaldo and Kaka can be seen in the first pictures.
Thomas Tuchel is also there and seems to be in a good mood. FIFA President Gianni Infantino is photographed with Donald Trump before the gala. The two are said to have an excellent relationship.
+++ The most important dates for the 2026 World Cup +++
Who will play against whom will still be determined in the coming hours. But the most important general dates for the 2026 World Cup have already been determined: the opening game will take place on June 11, 2026 in the legendary Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. Today co-hosts Mexico will find out who their opening opponents are.
The knockout round with the new round of 16 will begin on June 28th, and the final will be played on July 19th at the gates of New York.
+++ Nagelsmann is on site +++
The DFB is represented in the USA by its most important decision-makers. National coach Julian Nagelsmann, sports director Rudi Völler and association boss Bernd Neuendorf traveled to the USA on Thursday.
“The World Cup seemed a little further away so far – and not just geographically. With the draw, when we know our opponents and venues, it is noticeably closer,” said Nagelsmann.
DFB Managing Director Sport Andreas Rettig and national coach Julian Nagelsmann on Friday in Washington
+++ Desired scenario at the DFB? +++
With a view to the possible opponents, the DFB did not take part in the speculation about a desired scenario in advance. The association probably focuses more on the venues.
Because according to “kicker”, the association prefers a World Cup location in the southeast of the USA. You are said to have already secured a specific location with initial access rights. An unfavorable draw could still thwart these plans. In the worst case, the travel distances to the desired location would simply be too long for the World Cup across three countries.
The exact game dates will not be published until Saturday because there have to be negotiations with the TV channels beforehand.
+++ It’s about to start +++
The big FIFA gala starts in Washington in just under an hour. The groups for the 2026 World Cup will then be determined with plenty of celebrities.
The event will be moderated by Heidi Klum. US President Donald Trump is there as a star guest. Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger will provide entertainment with their performances.
+++ The mode of the World Cup draw +++
A total of 48 teams will take part in the tournament in Canada, Mexico and the USA. The hosts of the 2026 World Cup are placed in Pot 1 and will therefore be the head of each group.
Mexico will end up in Group A, Canada in Group B and the USA in Group D. All other participants were divided into four draw pots based on their position in the FIFA world rankings.
First, the teams will be drawn from Pot 1 on Friday and assigned to a group. The four top nations in the FIFA world rankings have to follow different tournament paths. Spain, Argentina, France and England cannot meet before the semi-finals.
As the draw progresses, the pots are worked through one after the other. However, only one nation per continental association may be drawn into each group.
The exception is the European countries. Here two teams can belong to the same group. In fact, each group must include at least one European nation.
Because not all playoffs have been played yet, six places in the 2026 World Cup are still open. During the draw, placeholders will be drawn from pot 4.
At the end of the draw, twelve groups of four have been chosen for the preliminary round of the World Cup.
+++ The lottery pots for the 2026 World Cup+++
Pot 1: USA, Canada, Mexico, 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, Curacao, Haiti, New Zealand, New Caledonia/Jamaica/DR Congo, Bolivia/Suriname/Iraq, Italy/Northern Ireland/Wales/Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania, Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo, Denmark/North Macedonia/Czech Republic/Ireland