How to watch the FIFA World Cup 26™ Final Draw LIVE on SBS

Australia and 41 other nations will learn their group stage fate at the FIFA World Cup 26™ Final Draw in Washington DC, and you can watch it all live on SBS and SBS On Demand.

You can watch the FIFA World Cup 26™ Final Draw live on SBS and SBS On Demand. (Photo by Harold Cunningham - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images) Credit: FIFA/FIFA

Watch all 104 games of the FIFA World Cup 26™ LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE on SBS, SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.

• How has FIFA World Cup Finals qualification altered?
• How does the World Cup 2026 draw work?
• When is the FIFA World Cup 26™ final draw?
• Where is the World Cup draw?
• Who has qualified for the 2026 World Cup?
• How can I watch the draw?

The FIFA World Cup 26™ is on the horizon, and the tournament, which is set to be held in the United States of America, Canada, and Mexico, will bring a host of firsts. SBS will again be the exclusive Australian broadcaster for the world's biggest sporting event as well as the final draw on the morning of Saturday, December 6 (AEDT).

The changes to FIFA World Cup qualification

An expansion to 48 nations for the FIFA World Cup 26™ from the current structure of 32 teams will see growth beyond the normal countries seen at the tournament.

The increase to the number of teams has meant each region has seen an increase in their quota of nations that qualify for the FIFA World Cup™.

• Asia: 8 (+4 compared to 2022)
• Africa: 9 (+4)
• North, Central America and Caribbean: 6 (+3)
• Europe: 16 (+3)
• South America: 6 (+2)
• Oceania: 1 (+1)

How does the World Cup 2026 draw work?

The 48 eligible teams will be divided into four "pots" according to their FIFA rankings. The three host nations are automatically placed in Pot 1 and pre-drawn into specific groups, while the remaining teams will be assigned a pot according to their FIFA ranking at the time of the draw.

Since the UEFA and intercontinental playoff qualifiers will not be determined by the time of the draw, the six teams to qualify from the playoffs will automatically be placed in Pot 4, regardless of their FIFA ranking.

One team from each pot will be placed into every group to ensure competitive balance. Rather than the previous format of having eight groups of four teams, the 2026 draw will create 12 groups of four teams each.

The Socceroos, who are currently ranked 26th in the world, have been placed into Pot 2.

As the hosts, Mexico will automatically be placed in Group A, Canada in Group B, and the USA in Group D.

No countries from the same confederation can be drawn into the same group, with the exception of UEFA, which will be restricted to two teams per group.

At the tournament's group stage, the top two teams from each group will advance to the Round of 32, in addition to eight of the 12 best performing third-ranked nations.

When is the FIFA World Cup draw?

The FIFA World Cup 26™ Final Draw will take place on December 5 (December 6 AEDT).

President of the United States and Chairman of the Kennedy Center, Donald J. Trump, and FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the White House will announce the draw for the FIFA World Cup 26™ with team officials, ambassadors, fans representing the tournament’s Host Cities and global media representatives, amongst others, to unite for one of the significant milestones leading into the tournament.

Where is the World Cup draw?

The draw will take place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC.

Who has qualified for the 2026 World Cup?

42 out of 48 nations have already qualified for the tournament; Australia, IR Iran, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Korea Republic, Uzbekistan, Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Cote d'Ivorie, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, Canada, Mexico, United States, Haiti, Curacao, Panama, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, New Zealand, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland.

As for the remaining six slots, the four winners of the UEFA playoffs and the two winners of the inter-confederation playoffs will not be known until these matches take place in March 2026.

Click here to learn more about every country that has qualified for the World Cup in 2026.

How can I watch the draw?

Audiences in Australia can watch the FIFA World Cup 26™ Final Draw live from 4am (AEDT) Saturday December 6 on SBS and SBS On Demand, with a replay of the event leading into the Australia Championship Final later that afternoon at 2:30pm (AEDT).

And 24 hours after the Final Draw, audiences can also watch the live stream of the FIFA World Cup 26™ Match Schedule reveal from 4am (AEDT) Sunday December 7 via SBS On Demand.

In addition to all matches being shown live across SBS and SBS VICELAND, plus live streamed on SBS On Demand, you can catch all the build up to the tournament via the SBS Sport FIFA World Cup 26™ Hub.