Overview
- The ceremony begins at 18:00 CET (12:00 Washington), with ZDF on air from 17:55 and free streams on zdf.de plus expected FIFA feeds on fifa.com and YouTube.
- MagentaTV offers live coverage from 17:45 with presenter Wolff Fuss and analyst Thomas Müller.
- Forty-two teams are confirmed for the draw, while six spots will be decided in spring 2026 playoffs and appear as placeholders.
- The 48 participant places will be assigned to twelve groups of four via four pots of twelve seeded by FIFA rankings, with the USA, Canada and Mexico in Pot 1 alongside the nine highest-ranked qualified nations.
- Germany is seeded in Pot 1 and will draw opponents from Pots 2–4 under rules allowing at most one additional European team and prohibiting two teams from the same non-European confederation in a group.