Washington, December 05 (QNA) - The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, held today at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, placed Qatar in Group B together with co-hosts Canada, Switzerland, and the winner of UEFA Playoff 1, which features Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, and Northern Ireland.
Under the format of the tournament-which will be jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada from 11 June to 19 July 2026 with an expanded field of 48 teams for the first time- the top two teams from each of the 12 groups will advance to the Round of 32, along with the eight best third-placed teams.
FIFA divided the participating teams into four seeding pots based on the most recent FIFA World Ranking issued on 19 November. Each pot was drawn separately. The three host nations of the 23rd edition of the World Cup (the United States, Mexico, and Canada) were placed in Pot 1 regardless of their ranking, while the remaining teams were distributed among the other pots according to their positions in the ranking.
Pot 1 included: Canada, Mexico, the United States, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Pot 2 featured: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, and Australia.
Qatar was drawn from Pot 3, which also included Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Cote d'Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. Pot 4 consisted of Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, the four UEFA playoff winners (A, B, C, D), and the two intercontinental playoff winners (A and B).
Qatar secured its place at the World Cup after topping Group A in the fourth round of Asian qualifying, hosted on home soil, finishing ahead of Oman and the United Arab Emirates. This marks Qatar's second consecutive World Cup appearance-and its first achieved through qualification-following its participation as host nation in the previous edition, FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. (QNA)