There is still so much to figure out before the 2026 World Cup draw takes place on December 5, with qualified teams across the globe now crossing their fingers when it comes to which pot they will be placed in.
MORE — 2026 World Cup venues
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Why is that such a big deal? Well, the higher pot you’re placed in the easier draw you get. In theory.
Below is a look at which teams already know which pot they will be in for the draw, the projected pots for the teams who have already qualified for the World Cup and predicting who the final teams to make it will be and which pot they will be placed in.
How do FIFA determine which pots teams are in for the 2026 World Cup draw?
This very helpful explainer from our own Nick Mendola goes through the details on exactly how teams are placed into each of the four pots for the 2026 World Cup draw. Basically, it’s based on FIFA’s world ranking system as to which pot each team will be placed in.
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The next set of FIFA world rankings are released on November 19 in order to determine seedings for the draws for the inter-confederation and UEFA playoffs. It seems likely that FIFA will not release a new set of world rankings between November 19 and the draw for the 2026 World Cup on Friday, December 5, so those November 19 rankings will be used for the pots for the draw.
Based on the current FIFA world rankings (before November 19), below is how we predict which teams will be in each pot based on how we think the final games of qualifying and the playoffs will play out.
We are also assuming that FIFA will place the six teams who will advance to the tournament via the playoff route in Pot 4, as a decision on that has yet to be made as teams in the playoffs could be assigned to a certain pot based on their current FIFA ranking.
Which pots could each team be in for the 2026 World Cup?
Pot 1 – 12 teams total
Canada (hosts) – Confirmed
Mexico (hosts) – Confirmed
USMNT (hosts) – Confirmed
Spain — Assuming they qualify automatically
Argentina
England
France
Portugal
Netherlands
Brazil
Belgium — Assuming they qualify automatically
Germany
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Pot 2 – 12 teams total
Croatia
Morocco
Colombia
Uruguay
Switzerland — Assuming they qualify automatically
Senegal
Japan
Denmark — Assuming they qualify automatically
Iran
South Korea
Ecuador
Austria — Assuming they qualify automatically
Pot 3 – 12 teams total
Australia
Norway
Panama — Assuming they qualify automatically
Egypt
Algeria
Paraguay
Ivory Coast
Tunisia
Qatar
Uzbekistan
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Pot 4 – 12 teams total
Italy — Assuming they qualify via the UEFA playoffs
Turkiye — Assuming they qualify via the UEFAplayoffs
Ukraine — Assuming they qualify via the UEFA playoffs
Poland — Assuming they qualify via the UEFA playoffs
Costa Rica — Assuming they qualify via the inter-confederation playoffs
Iraq — Assuming they qualify via the inter-confederation playoffs
Honduras — Assuming they qualify automatically
Jordan
Jamaica — Assuming they qualify automatically
Cape Verde
Ghana
New Zealand
