The full 12 groups

The draw for the 2026 World Cup took place on Friday during a lengthy ceremony at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.

The full composition of the teams is not yet known, with the UEFA play-offs and inter-confederation play-offs not yet taking place in March, when the 48-team roster will be completed.

Furthermore, the dates and times of the matches are still to be known, but 42 teams now know which groups they belong to, with most knowing the identity of all the teams they will face in the group stage.

Here are the World Cup groups in full.

2026 World Cup groups

Group A

• Mexico
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Play-off winner: Denmark/Czechia/Republic of Ireland/North Macedonia

Group B

• Canada
• Play-off winner: Italy/Wales/Bosnia-Herzegovina/Northern Ireland
• Qatar
• Swiss

Group C

• Brazil
• Morocco
• Haiti
• Scotland

Group D

• USA
• Paraguay
• Australia
• Play-off winner: Türkiye/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo

Group E

• Germany
• Curacao
• Ivory Coast
• Ecuador

Group F

• The Netherlands
• Japan
• Play-off winner: Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania
• Tunisia

Group G

• Belgium
• Egypt
• Iran
• New Zealand

Group H

• Spain
• Cape Verde
• Saudi Arabia
• Uruguay

Group I

• France
• Senegal
• Play-off winner: Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname
• Norway

Group J

• Argentina
• Algeria
• Austria
• Jordan

Group K

• Portugal
• Play-off winner: DR Congo/Jamaica/New Caledonia
• Uzbekistan
• Colombia

Group L

• England
• Croatia
• Ghana
• Panama

When is the opening match of the World Cup?

The opening match will see Mexico face South Africa on June 11 at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.

Canada will play its opening match a day later in Toronto, while the United States will also play its opening match on June 12 against Paraguay in Los Angeles.

England face Croatia test

England, meanwhile, will have to wait until June 17 for their opening match against Croatia in Toronto or Arlington.

It represents a difficult start to the tournament for Thomas Tuchel’s men, in what amounts to a rematch of the 2018 semi-final won by Croatia.

England will, however, be confident of progressing out of Group L, which they will close against a Panama team they beat 6-1 in the group stage in 2018.

Scotland have a chance to get off to a good start

Scotland will be underdogs to advance to Group C, but can at least have reason to hope for a good start against Haiti, who are making their first appearance at the tournament since 1974.

That match takes place on June 13 before clashes with Morocco and Brazil, two teams Scotland faced in their last finals appearance in 1998.

When are the play-offs?

Six World Cup places remain to be determined, with four UEFA teams plus two other teams from the other five confederations expected to take their place in the final.

The UEFA and Interconfederation play-offs begin with semi-finals on March 26. The play-off finals will follow on March 31, when the roster will be completed.