FIFA announced on Tuesday the official procedure for the 2026 World Cup draw, confirming that Spain and Argentina—the two highest-ranked teams in the FIFA rankings—will be placed on opposite sides of the bracket. This means that if both teams win their groups, they could not face each other before the final. The measure is part of the new group stage design and competitive structure for the first 48-team World Cup, whose opening ceremony will be held on December 5 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Get 20% off UEFA Champions League broadcasts in Spanish on DAZN.

According to FIFA, Pot 1 will consist of the three hosts—Mexico, Canada, and the United States—along with Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. The remaining teams will be distributed into pots according to their ranking as published on November 19, 2025. Additionally, the spots from the qualifying tournament and the European playoffs will go directly into Pot 4. The organization explained that Mexico will be automatically assigned to position A1, Canada to B1, and the United States to D1, with balls of different colors to distinguish them from the rest. The draw will continue with Pots 2, 3, and 4, following a pre-established pattern that will define each team's position within its group. To ensure competitive balance, two separate paths to the semifinals have been designed. Under this system, the number one ranked team (Spain) and the second (Argentina) will be placed on opposite sides of the bracket. The same criterion will apply to France and England, the third and fourth ranked teams. FIFA explained that “this ensures that, if the two highest-ranked teams win their groups, they will not face each other before the final.” If either team does not finish first in its group, this protection is nullified. In that scenario, Spain and Argentina could meet earlier, even in a semifinal.depending on how the knockout bracket is configured.

Groups, confederations, and upcoming announcements

Another key rule of the draw stipulates that there cannot be more than one team from the same confederation in a group, except in the case of UEFA, which has 16 representatives. Under no circumstances will there be more than two European teams in the same group. For teams coming from the intercontinental qualifying tournament, this same restriction will apply to avoid matches between members of the same confederation.

The pots will have the following composition:

Once the groups are defined on December 5, FIFA will publish the complete schedule with venues and times for each match the following day. The organization stated that this distribution will seek to optimize conditions for the teams and facilitate fan attendance across different time zones.