Overview
- FIFA released the four seeding pots based on the Nov. 19 ranking, with Pot 1 featuring Canada, Mexico, United States, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
- The final draw will take place on Friday, Dec. 5, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
- Hosts have fixed positions for the group stage openers: Mexico as A1, Canada as B1 and the United States as D1.
- Confederation limits apply to groups, permitting no more than one team per confederation except UEFA, which can have up to two and must be represented in every group.
- In a new measure to balance the knockout bracket, Spain and Argentina, and separately France and England, will be placed on opposite halves if they win their groups; six remaining berths will be decided in March 2026 playoffs and those winners will enter Pot 4.