Australia's Socceroos will soon learn who their FIFA World Cup 2026 opening stage opponents are, with the unveiling of the tournament's draw.
The World Cup draw will be attended by United States President Donald Trump, who has been rumoured as a possible winner of FIFA's inaugural peace prize, which will also be awarded at the event.
Draw proceedings kick off at Washington's John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts at midday local time on Friday 5 December, which means early morning Saturday for Australians (more details on that below).
The draw will divide the 48 teams — three host teams, 39 qualified teams, two FIFA World Cup 2026 play-off tournament placeholders and four European play-off placeholders — into 12 groups comprising four teams each.
It's an expansion from previous World Cups, which only included 32 teams.
The Socceroos met France and Denmark at both the 2022 and 2018 group stages. The only other nations the Australian side has encountered twice at the cup finals are Chile and Germany.
Given their placement in Pot 2 — a system by which more closely ranked teams are grouped — the Socceroos won't face two-time champions Uruguay, 2018 finalists Croatia, Colombia, Switzerland or Austria in the opening round.
Teams in the same pot cannot compete against each other in this stage, meaning the Socceroos will also avoid early match-ups with Asian regional confederation rivals Japan, South Korea and Iran.
However, they could face highly-ranked teams such as England, Argentina, Spain, Norway, or Italy, who are yet to qualify but could be a late entry to Pot 4.
A total of 104 games will be held in stadiums across the host countries — Canada, Mexico and the US.
The Socceroos were knocked out in round 16 of the World Cup 2022. Source: AAP / Joel Carrett
Guests will also be treated to performances by British pop star Robbie Williams, American singer Nicole Scherzinger and classical singer Andrew Bocelli.
Legendary disco band the Village People will also deliver a rendition of YMCA, Trump's favourite campaign anthem.
Peace prize to also be announced
FIFA president Gianni Infantino will also be announcing the winner of the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize at the draw, which the organisation has said will go to someone who has "taken exceptional and extraordinary actions for peace".
There are broad speculations the prize will be awarded to Trump, who is known to have a close relationship with Infantino.
Infantino attended Trump's inauguration in January and has previously said the US leader deserved global recognition for his role in brokering a ceasefire in the Middle East.
The FIFA boss also rubbed shoulders with world leaders at a Gaza peace summit in mid-October, reportedly at the invitation of Trump.
Some have questioned FIFA's involvement in politics, with Human Rights Watch sending a letter requesting information on the criteria and process for selecting the winner.
The announcement of the peace prize in early November prompted questions as to whether Trump would be the first recipient of the award.
Asked at the America Business Forum in Miami recently, which Trump also attended, Infantino replied: "On the 5th of December you will see." He also said he had "a great relationship" with Trump.
What are the FIFA pots?
There are four pots in the draw, with all pots seeded with teams from the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men's World Ranking.
Pot 1 includes the top nine teams, alongside the hosts: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.
Pot 2 has the next 12 highest-ranked teams: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, IR Iran, Korea Republic, Ecuador, Austria, and Australia.
The World Cup 2026 final will be held at the New York/New Jersey Stadium on 19 July. Source: Getty / Cristopher Rogel Blanquet
Pot 4 includes six teams — Jordan, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, and New Zealand — and six placeholders scheduled to play in March 2026 during the international match window.
How does the draw work?
As the teams are drawn, they will go into groups from A to L.
The teams in Pot 1 will go into the first positions in each group, with host country positions already established. Mexico for A1, Canada B1 and USA D1.
Those in pots 2, 3 and 4 will be drawn randomly into other positions in their respective groups.
For the first time, the four highest-seeded countries will not face each other until the semifinals, assuming all four win in their groups. According to FIFA, this is to ensure a balanced distribution of teams.
Two countries from the same confederation — Africa, Asia, Europe, North and Central America and the Caribbean, South America and Oceania — cannot be drawn together.
Europe has an exemption because it has 16 countries competing in the World Cup, making it impossible to prevent a clash.
Where can I watch the World Cup draw in Australia?
Australians will have to rise early on Saturday 6 December to watch the World Cup draw live, which will be streaming live and free on SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand at the following times:
- 4am AEDT (Victoria, Tasmania and most of NSW)
- 3.30am South Australia
- 3am Queensland
- 2:30am Northern Territory
- 1am Western Australia
Socceroo fans at Federation Square in Melbourne watch Australia play Denmark at the FIFA World Cup 2022. Source: AAP / Con Chronis
This ensures fans worldwide can watch their teams play live across different time zones.
Watch the draw, and all 104 games of the FIFA World Cup 26™ LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE on SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.
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