What time is the 2026 World Cup draw, how to watch and who England could face

Sixteen European teams will compete for four World Cup finals spots. Teams will need to win two knockout matches to qualify.

There is a separate intercontinental play-off tournament which will complete the line-up for the 48-team World Cup. Two spots are up for grabs between six teams from around the world, excluding Europe.

Iraq and DR Congo are seeded on the basis of their rankings, so will each play the winner of one-legged ties between the four unseeded seams.

World Cup play-off draw

Play-off path A:
Semi-final: Italy vs Northern Ireland
Semi-final: Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
Final: Wales/Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy/Northern Ireland

Play-off path B:
Semi-final: Ukraine vs Sweden
Semi-final: Poland vs Albania
Final: Ukraine/Sweden vs Poland/Albania

Play-off path C:
Semi-final: Turkey vs Romania
Semi-final: Slovakia vs Kosovo
Final: Slovakia/Kosovo vs Turkey/Romania

Play-off path D:
Semi-final: Denmark vs North Macedonia
Semi-final: Czech Republic vs Republic of Ireland
Final: Czech Republic/Republic of Ireland vs Denmark/North Macedonia

Intercontinental tournament

Iraq, DR Congo (both seeded)
Jamaica, Bolivia, Suriname, Bolivia, New Caledonia (unseeded)

When are the games?

During March’s international break. The European semi-finals will start on March 26 2026, the four finals five days later. The losing semi-finalists will play punitive friendlies against one another on the days of the finals, a wonderfully pointless idea.

Exact dates are TBC for the Intercontinental leg, but Mexico will host the entire tournament.

For the 2026 tournament, BBC Sport and ITV will again split the matches between them. The final will be shown on both channels simultaneously.

There are fears that this World Cup could prove the most expensive ever for supporters, with Fifa operating “dynamic pricing” and taking a 15 per cent fee on resale tickets from both buyer and seller.

According to www.fifacollectanalytics.com, tickets for the opening game were found to start at $370 (£279), with the most expensive costing $1,825 (£1,377). That compared with $55 (£42) and $618 (£466), respectively, in Qatar. Prices for next summer’s final in New York were also found to start at $2,030 (£1,531) – more than 10 times more expensive than the cheapest tickets three years ago – as well as averaging $3,945 (£2,973). The vast majority of starting prices are forecast to cost hundreds of dollars.

Where will the matches take place?

The matches will be played across 16 cities – 11 from the US, two in Canada and three in Mexico. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will all be held in the States.

Here is the list of cities that will be hosting at least one World Cup match.

Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver.

The MetLife Stadium in New Jersey will host the final on July 19, 2026. The venue has a capacity of 82,500 and hosted last summer’s Club World Cup final between Chelsea and Paris St-Germain. Our chief football correspondent Jason Burt was less than impressed when he paid the forbidding, concrete stadium a visit.