Source: Radio New Zealand
Chris Wood takes a selfie with fans after defeating Cote d’Ivoire. Andrew Lahodynskyj / www.photosport.nz
2026 FIFA World Cup draw
Washington DC
Saturday 6 December, 6am NZT
Live blog coverage on RNZ
The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be made in Washington DC on Saturday. So who could the All Whites be grouped with? Here’s everything you need to know.
The 23rd edition of the World Cup will be the first to feature 48 teams and will be hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada. It kicks off on 11 June with the opening two games in Mexico, and finishes on 19 July with the final in New York.
A new rule in the draw aims to maintain competitive balance in the expanded 48-team format. It means the top-ranked team (Spain) and number two (world champions Argentina) are in opposite halves of the bracket, with the same applying to number three (France) and number four (England).
Argentina captain Lionel Messi lifts the World Cup trophy after the between Argentina and France at Lusail Stadium at the Lusail Stadium, north of Doha. AFP
If the top four seeds win their groups, those countries won’t be able to meet until the semi-finals for the first time in the tournament’s history.
The World Cup draw takes place on Saturday morning (6am NZT) in Washington DC, with the updated match schedule, including stadiums and kick-off times, to be released on Sunday morning.
Teams qualified
Hosts: Canada, Mexico, United States
Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde*, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan*, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan*
Europe: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland
Oceania: New Zealand
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
North and Central America and the Caribbean: Curacao*, Panama, Haiti
*attending World Cup finals for the first time.
Play-offs
The UEFA play-offs feature 16 teams (four places available) – the 12 group runners-up and four UEFA Nations League group winners: Italy, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Denmark, Wales, Albania, Sweden, Turkey, Czech Republic, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Kosovo and Northern Ireland.
There will be six teams in the two inter-confederation paths (Two places available). Iraq and DR Congo will go direct to one of the finals. Bolivia, Jamaica, New Caledonia and Suriname will be drawn into semi-finals.
Spain’s Lamine Yamal celebrates after the Euro 2024 win over England. Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse / PHOTOSPORT
Pots for draw
Hosts Canada, Mexico and the US are in Pot 1, which includes Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Pot 2 has Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria and Australia.
Pot 3 will include Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
Pot 4 will be Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curacao, Haiti, New Zealand, and the winners from the European play-off A, B, C and D, and the FIFA Play-Off tournament 1 and 2.
Confederation constraints will apply, with no group having more than one team from the same region except UEFA, which has 16 representatives and can place up to two teams in a group.
The 12 groups at the World Cup will include one team from each of the four pots.
Fifa will start by drawing the teams from pot one.
Once a team is drawn they will go into the first available group.
Joe Bell, All Whites v Colombia at Chase Stadium, Florida. Carl Kafka/www.photosport.nz
Who could the All Whites face?
With 48 teams in the draw (50 percent more than the 2022 Qatar World Cup), New Zealand have 36 possible opponents from every FIFA confederation apart from Oceania.
They could face any of the Pot 1 teams of Canada, Mexico, the US, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
Canada or the US would likely be the All Whites favoured opponent from the seeded pot, but they would both still be very hard to beat.
New Zealand Football boss Andrew Pragnell and All Whites coach Darren Bazeley will be in Washington DC as part of a New Zealand delegation of seven people who will be stateside for the draw.
While the duo will be “ball watching” during the draw to find out which teams the All Whites will be grouped with for New Zealand’s third appearance at a World Cup, that is a passive part of what they are up to.
They have no influence over how the draw plays out, but they can work the room and get themselves and their football wishes in front of some influential people.
New Zealand history at the FIFA World Cup
New Zealand first attempted to qualify for the World Cup finals in 1970, but didn’t achieve their goal until 1982.
In the buildup to that tournament the All Whites went through a gruelling qualification process that involved 15 games, and they had to beat China in a sudden-death play-off in Singapore.
That squad contained many of the greats of New Zealand football, including Wynton Rufer, Steve Sumner, Duncan Cole and Ricki Herbert.
In Spain in 1982 the All Whites lost all three group games – 2-5 to Scotland, 0-3 to Soviet Union and 0-4 to Brazil.
As Oceania champions New Zealand qualified for the 2010 finals by beating Bahrain in a two-legged intercontinental play-off with Rory Fallon scoring the decisive goal in Wellington
The All Whites were the only team to go unbeaten in the 2010 tournament in South Africa although they still failed to get out of their group.
They drew 1-1 with Slovakia, 1-1 with Italy and 0-0 with Paraguay.
Host cities
USA: Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle.
Mexico: Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey.
Canada: Toronto and Vancouver.
Television coverage
TVNZ will cover the tournament, with all of the All Whites games and some others to be broadcast free-to-air.
A World Cup pass to watch all of the games will be able to be purchased.
Although kick-off times have not been confirmed it is likely that games will be played in the late afternoon and evening because of the heat. That means games are likely to start between 8am and 3pm in New Zealand.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
