What and where: The draw for the World Cup in Canada, the USA and Mexico will take place at the John F Kennedy Center in Washington DC - with President Donald Trump in attendance, among others.
When: Friday 6:00 PM, Swedish time.
Can be followed: Live on SVT2 and TV4 Play.
What's new: For the first time, 48 nations will be placed in 12 groups of four teams. One team from each of the four seeding pots forms a group. So far, 42 nations have qualified for the World Cup. Twenty-two nations will compete for the remaining six places in the playoff.
Already clear: Mexico plays in Group A, Canada in Group B and the USA in Group D. Spain and Argentina end up on opposite sides of the playoff tree and cannot meet until a final. The same applies to France and England.
Restrictions: Only Europe is allowed to have two nations in the same group. Nations from other confederations should not be able to be pitted against each other in the group stage.
Kick-off times and match locations: This will only be decided at a second gala starting at 6:00 PM on Saturday. The time and location for all 104 matches will then be determined, all to give the teams, visiting supporters and the television audience in their home country the best possible conditions.
Swedish presence: National team manager Stefan Pettersson, coordinator Cecilia Sandell, security manager Stefan Dejemyr and board member Jens T Andersson are part of the Swedish delegation on site.
How Sweden reaches the World Cup: First, victory against Ukraine on a neutral field (location not yet determined) is required in the semi-final on March 26. In a direct decisive final at Strawberry Arena, either Poland or Albania awaits.
Iran's turnaround: After initially threatening a boycott due to denied visas, the Iranian Football Federation announced on Wednesday that national team captain Amir Ghalenoei will still participate in the draw.
Talked about peace prize: FIFA has, somewhat unexpectedly, established its own peace prize to be awarded in connection with the draw. “Football stands for peace and on behalf of the entire football world, the FIFA Peace Prize will recognize those individuals who bring people together and give hope to future generations,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino recently.
Many believe that Infantino, known for pandering to despotic rulers, will give the prize to Donald Trump, as a bit of a band-aid for not receiving the “real” peace prize that was awarded to Venezuelan opposition politician María Corina Machado in October.
The seeding groups at the World Cup draw:
Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria and Australia.
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, Europe playoff 1 (Italy/Northern Ireland/Wales/Bosnia), Europe playoff 2 (Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania), Europe playoff 3 (Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo), Europe playoff 4 (Denmark/North Macedonia/Czech Republic/Ireland, World playoff 1 (New Caledonia/Jamaica/Democratic Republic of Congo), World playoff 2 (Bolivia/Suriname/Iraq).
The World Cup will be played from June 11 to July 19, 2026. The opening match will be played in Mexico City with Mexico as one of the teams. The final will be played at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
Host cities: Toronto and Vancouver (Canada), Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey (Mexico), Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle (USA).
