FIFA World Cup 2026 draw set to take place on Friday, big sporting personalities set to grace event

Washington [US], December 4 (ANI): The FIFA World Cup 2026 tournament's Final Draw will take place at Washington, DC on Friday, with some of the biggest names in the sport set to grace the event.

As per Indian time, the draw will be held at 10:30 PM and finalise the composition of 12 groups of four teams each for the mega event, to be hosted next year by the USA, Canada and Mexico, featuring 48 teams. The marquee football tournament will start from June 11 onwards.

Once groups will be finalised, FIFA will publish a full schedule, combined with venues and kick-off times, at another event in Washington on December 6, as per Olympics.com.

Former England captain Rio Ferdinand, a six-time Premier League and one-time UEFA Champions League winner with English giants Manchester United, will lead the proceedings during the draw, supported by presenter Sam Johnson.

Sports personalities from a variety of sports will be gracing the event, including the National Football League (NFL) great Tom Brady, a seven-time Super Bowl champion, ice-hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, Major League Baseball (MLB) star Aaron Judge and National Basketball Association (NBA) Hall of Famer Shaquille O'Neal, a four-time NBA champion with LA Lakers and Miami Heat and two-time Super Bowl champion Eli Manning, who represented New York Giants for his entire career, hosting a red-carpet segment before the draw starts.

The 48 teams will be split into 12 equal groups, A to L, of four each and the top nine seeds, along with three co-hosts, will be a part of Pot one. The host nations, Mexico (Group A), Canada (Group B) and the USA (Group D) have already received their groups as per tradition.

Defending champions Argentina, along with Spain, France and England are four top-seeded teams in the draw and are in Pool 1. These four teams cannot meet each other till the semis at least.

Five-time world champions Brazil, Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and four-time champions Germany in Pot One for the draw.

All six yet-to-be-decided playoff qualifiers have been placed in Pot Four. Four-time champions Italy are among the playoff teams and could end up in pot four if they secure qualification.

Debutants Uzbekistan is a part of Pot 3, while fellow first-timers Jordan and Cape Verde sit in Pot 4.

FIFA World Cup 2026 pots

-Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany

-Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia

-Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, South Africa

-Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Curacao, Ghana, Haiti, New Zealand, four European playoff winners, two intercontinental playoff winners. (ANI)

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