The 2026 World Cup will kick off on June 11 with joint-hosts Mexico playing South Africa at the Azteca Stadium — venue of the 1970 and 1986 finals — followed by South Korea against a playoff winner after the draw was made on Friday.
South Africa are appearing for the first time since 2010, when they drew with Mexico in the opening match but failed to reach the knockout stage.
Fellow hosts the United States and Canada will join the party the next day, against Paraguay and a playoff winner — possibly Italy — respectively in Los Angeles and Toronto.
Defending champions Argentina were grouped with Algeria, Austria and Jordan, while five-times winners Brazil will play Morocco — semi-finalists in 2022 — Haiti and Scotland.
The Scots are appearing in the finals for the first time since 1998, when they lost to Brazil in the opening game.
France’s first game will be against Senegal in a repeat of one of the biggest tournament upsets, when the Africans stunned the then-holders in their first game of the 2002 tournament.
England will start against Croatia, who beat them in the 2018 semi-finals, and also face Panama, who they beat 6-1 in the group stage in the same tournament.
The teams outside the hosts’ groups will have to wait until Saturday to find out the venues and kickoff times for their games after FIFA attempts to optimise venues and kickoff times relating to the various worldwide TV markets.
A newly introduced seeding system ensures that the current top four in the world — Spain, holders Argentina, 2022 runners-up France and England — cannot meet until the semi-final stage if they win their groups.
The 48 teams — including six still-to-be-decided playoff winners — were divided into 12 groups of four to produce a mammoth 104-match schedule across 16 cities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, culminating in the final in New Jersey on July 19.
Venues and kickoff times will be announced in another globally broadcast event on Saturday, though even that is subject to adjustment in March once the six playoff qualification spots have been filled.
2026 FIFA World Cup Group Stage Draw:
Group ‘A’: Mexico, South Africa South Korea, European Playoff D
Group ‘B’: Canada, European Playoff A, Qatar, Switzerland
Group ‘C’: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
Group ‘D’: United States, Paraguay, Australia, European Playoff C
Group ‘E’: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Group ‘F’: Netherlands, Japan, European Playoff B, Tunisia
Group ‘G’: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Group ‘H’: Spain, Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Group ‘I’: France, Senegal, FIFA Playoff 2, Norway
Group ‘J’: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Group ‘K’: Portugal, FIFA Playoff 1, Uzbekistan, Colombia
Group ‘L’: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama