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FIFA revealed on Tuesday the official process for the final draw of the 2026 World Cup. The event is scheduled for December 5 in Washington and will establish the structure of the 12 groups, each consisting of four teams, including 48 participating nations.

Morocco is placed in Pot 2, along with nations like Croatia, Colombia, Senegal, as well as Switzerland and Japan, as per the FIFA/Coca-Cola world ranking released on November 19.

The three host nations—Canada, the United States, and Mexico—are placed directly in Pot 1 and assigned to slots A1, B1, and D1 for logistical purposes. Additional teams in the first pot are Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.

FIFA states that the draw will begin with Pot 1, followed by Pots 2, 3, and 4 in sequence. The tournament will also include upcoming victors from the European playoffs and the Intercontinental Playoff Tournament, who will all be included in Pot 4.

Like in earlier editions, there will be geographical restrictions: only one representative from each confederation can be in every group, except for UEFA, which will have 16 teams and may have two entries per group. Nevertheless, each group needs to have at least one European team.

To maintain competitive fairness, the top four teams in the global rankings will be assigned to different brackets that lead to the semi-finals. Spain (1st) and Argentina (2nd) will be placed in separate brackets, as will France (3rd) and England (4th), to prevent them from meeting before the final, assuming they both finish first in their respective groups.

The timetable of the matches, along with venues and start times, will be released on December 6, the day following the draw. As per FIFA, the arrangement will take into account the teams’ recovery needs and will strive to help fans keep up with the games despite the varying time zones.