World Cup 2026 draw set for Washington, DC in December: Why this FIFA event will be unlike any before

With less than 10 months to go before the start of the 23rd FIFA World Cup, anticipation is building. This edition of the tournament will be held across the United States, Mexico, and Canada between June 11 and July 19, 2026, and it’s already shaping up to be an unforgettable event. On Friday, the exact date and location of the draw for the world’s biggest soccer tournament were announced.

During a statement from the Oval Office at the White House, United States president Donald Trump and FIFA president Gianni Infantino officially confirmed that the draw for the 2026 World Cup will be held on Friday, December 5, at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

The decision came as something of a surprise, as speculation had pointed to Las Vegas as the likely host city. That assumption was based in part on precedent: the last time the World Cup was held in North America, in 1994, the draw took place months earlier at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“It’s the biggest, probably the biggest event in sports,” Trump said during the announcement. Along those lines, Infantino expressed high expectations for the scale of the December 5 event — even if it won’t feature any on-field action. “The draw will be broadcast live all over the world and will be watched by one billion viewers,” said the FIFA president.

A different kind of draw for a groundbreaking World Cup

The World Cup draw is always a major event. It’s where the groups for the opening stage of the tournament are determined, along with the potential matchups for the knockout stages. A team’s path is charted from that moment, and that’s why millions of fans around the globe watch with excitement every four years.

This time, however, several elements will set it apart from past editions. The 2026 tournament will introduce a new format, making it the largest World Cup in history — with 48 teams instead of the previous 32.

Because the number of teams advancing to the knockout stage must be a multiple of four to allow a clean progression toward the final, FIFA has been forced to rethink the group stage format and introduce key changes.

What will the 2026 World Cup format look like?

The 48 teams that qualify for the FIFA World Cup will be drawn into 12 groups of four. Each team will face the others in its group over the course of three matchdays, earning points that determine the group standings.

Unlike in previous editions, those standings will carry more than just group-level importance. The top two teams in each group will advance to the next round, just as in past tournaments. But this time, the eight best third-place teams will also move on, while the four lowest-ranked third-place teams — along with the bottom teams from each group — will be eliminated.

Once the 32 teams advancing to the knockout stage are set, the bracket for the round of 32 will also be finalized — along with the paths each team must navigate in pursuit of a spot in the World Cup final.