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FIFA finally announced the rules for the 2026 World Cup draw, which will take place on December 5.
We remind you that the group stage will consist of 12 groups of 4 teams each.
FIFA followed the same approach to forming the pots as it did for the 2022 World Cup, placing all the "empty" balls reserved for the winners of the qualifying matches in the fourth pot.
Accordingly, the vases look like this:
rule
The main rule is that there can be no more than one team from the same confederation in each group. The exception is Europe, where there can be a maximum of two teams, as there are more participants (16) than groups.
This means, for example, that the "Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname" pot will definitely end up in a group with two European and two African teams, as it contains teams from Asia, North and South America, and New Zealand from Oceania is in the same pot.
Mexico, the United States and Canada have been drawn into groups with the announcement of the schedule as hosts. Mexico, which will play in the opening match, will play in Group A, Canada in Group B and the United States in Group D.
As a new feature, FIFA will distribute the four highest-ranked teams into different parts of the draw to ensure a “competitive balance.” This is how Spain and Argentina will be divided, as well as France and England, if they win their groups.
Therefore, if Spain finishes in one of the groups whose winners go to Pot 1 (left), E, F, G, H or I (D is occupied by the United States), then Argentina will not be able to finish in any of these groups.
In addition, a table has been drawn up to determine the places in the calendar, according to which teams will receive the starting places in the groups.
This is especially important to understand in the opening match: Mexico will play the second-placed team in the group. We now know it will be someone from pot three, Norway, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia or South Africa.
The schedules for all groups are predefined, accordingly, you can determine it yourself using these two tables.
How will the group stage work?
Let's briefly recall the rules of the group stage, as there are some innovations here compared to what we are used to at the World Cup.
The top two teams from each group will advance directly to the round of 16, as per the table above. However, 8 of the 12 best third-place teams will also qualify for the play-offs, which will lead to some exciting math in June and July.
Because if four of the six teams that qualified for the European Championship meant 15 possible combinations, then at the World Cup, FIFA calculated, 495!
And so, this means that only 16 out of 48 teams will be eliminated after the group stage.
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