2026 FIFA World Cup: FIFA confirms historic World Cup draw change
26th November 2025
Next year’s World Cup will feature a historic change to its draw structure, with the top four seeds guaranteed to avoid each other until the semi-finals—provided they win their groups.
FIFA confirmed that:
- Spain (No.1) will be paired with Argentina (No.2), placed in opposite halves of the bracket.
- France (No.3) and England (No.4) will also be paired, ensuring England cannot meet Spain or Argentina before the semi-finals, and France only in the final.
This pairing method, already used in tennis seeding and the new Champions League format, is designed to prevent early clashes between the highest-ranked nations. FIFA trialed a similar system at the Club World Cup earlier this year.
Key Dates
- Final Draw: Friday, 5 December
- Fixture Order Released: Immediately after the draw
- Venues & Kick-off Times Announced: Saturday, 6 December
- 12 groups will be drawn, each containing one team from each pot.
- Co-hosts Mexico, Canada, and the United States will be assigned fixed positions, ensuring they play all group matches at home.
- Confederation restrictions remain: no group can contain more than one team from the same region, except Europe, which has 16 qualifiers across 12 groups.
This adjustment is aimed at balancing competitiveness and spectacle, ensuring that the world’s elite teams—Spain, Argentina, France, and England—are kept apart until the latter stages. It also reflects FIFA’s broader push to align football’s global tournaments with seeding systems used in other sports.