Overview
- The ceremony begins at 12:00 p.m. ET in Washington, D.C., with coverage on FOX and Telemundo in the U.S., Canal 5/TUDN/ViX and TV Azteca in Mexico, and FIFA+ streaming internationally.
- Teams are assigned from four pots of 12 based on the Nov. 19 FIFA ranking, with hosts preplaced as Mexico A1 (green ball), Canada B1 (red) and the United States D1 (blue).
- Draw rules bar more than one team per confederation in a group except UEFA, which can have up to two European sides in any group.
- Forty‑two nations have qualified, leaving six places to be decided in March 2026 via four UEFA playoff winners and two intercontinental playoff winners, all destined for Pot 4.
- Las Vegas was explored as a host but logistical clashes with the National Finals Rodeo and AWS re:Invent ended talks, and the D.C. gala features hosts Heidi Klum, Kevin Hart and Danny Ramírez with performances by Andrea Bocelli and Robbie Williams and expected attendance by regional leaders.