FIFA Ensures Top Seeds Placed in Separate Halves for 2026 World Cup Draw

On Tuesday, FIFA announced that the four leading seeded countries for the 2026 World Cup will be positioned in distinct halves of the bracket during the draw for the 48-nation competition, which could prevent them from meeting before the semi-finals.

The top-ranked side, Spain, along with the current champions Argentina as the second seeds, will enter opposite sections of the draw, while third-placed France and fourth-ranked England will follow the same arrangement.

This setup means that if the highest-seeded teams progress from their groups, they will not encounter one another until potentially the championship match.

FIFA shared the details on Tuesday about the four pots for the qualified teams, plus the guidelines for the draw set for 5 December at 1700 GMT in Washington DC.

The four premier nations are grouped in Pot 1 together with the hosts Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

The drawing process starts with the 12 teams from Pot 1, featuring Germany which barely maintained its seeded spot.

It will then proceed to Pots 2, 3, and 4 in sequence, as FIFA outlined.

Six remaining spots in the tournament are yet to be decided by play-offs in March involving 18 contending countries.

Italy, winners of the World Cup on four occasions and sitting 12th in the FIFA rankings, participates in the play-offs and may land in Pot 4 upon qualification.

First-time entrants Uzbekistan appear in Pot 3, joined by other newcomers Jordan, Cape Verde, and Curacao in Pot 4.

Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, United States, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany

Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia

Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, South Africa

Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curacao, Haiti, New Zealand, European playoff winners A, B, C and D, Inter-confederation playoff winners 1 and 2