What Time Is the World Cup Draw? The 2026 FIFA Guide

The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw happened on Friday, December 5, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. ET. It was held at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. — and if you’re searching for what time the World Cup draw was, the short answer is: it already happened, and the groups are set.

Here’s everything you need. The exact times by time zone, the full group results, how the draw worked, and what comes next heading into June.

When the Draw Happened: Full Time Zone Breakdown

The draw ceremony started December 5, 2025, with a pre-show at 11:30 a.m. ET. The actual draw — when teams were pulled from the pots — began roughly an hour into the broadcast.

Here’s what time that was for fans worldwide:

One detail that tripped up a lot of viewers: the draw and the full match schedule were two separate announcements. December 5 established which teams were in each group. FIFA announced the complete schedule — with specific kick-off times and venue assignments for every match — the following morning.

How to Watch: Broadcast by Country

FOX’s English-language broadcast of the draw drew 1.23 million viewers — the most-watched FIFA World Cup Final Draw in U.S. English-language TV history, up 242% from the 2022 draw on FS1. The pre-show pulled 913,000 on its own.

How the 2026 World Cup Draw Worked

This is the first World Cup with 48 teams, up from 32 in 2022. All 48 nations were divided into four pots based on the FIFA World Rankings from November 2025. Each group of four would include one team from each pot.

The three host nations — USA, Canada, and Mexico — were placed in Pot 1 and pre-assigned to groups before the ceremony. The draw filled in the remaining three spots per group.

FIFA also introduced a tennis-style seeded bracket for this tournament. The four top-ranked teams — Spain, Argentina, France, and England — were placed in separate quadrants of the knockout bracket. None of them can face each other before the semifinals, assuming all four advance from their groups.

Groups contain four teams, and the top two from each group advance automatically. The eight best third-placed finishers also move on, creating a new Round of 32 stage that didn’t exist in previous World Cups.

The Full Group Results

Here are all 12 groups from the 2026 World Cup final draw results:

A few groups worth flagging. USA (Group D) drew Paraguay (ranked 39th) and Australia (ranked 26th). With the Americans ranked 14th, most analysts called this one of the more favorable draws a host nation could have hoped for. The USA opens June 12 vs. Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

France (Group I) faces Senegal and a Norway side built around Erling Haaland — making this arguably the toughest group in the tournament. Groups I and L both emerged as the leading “Group of Death” candidates in early analysis.

England (Group L) gets a rematch with Croatia, a throwback to their 2018 semifinal meeting, plus Ghana and Panama.

Brazil (Group C) faces Morocco in what’s shaping up as one of the group stage’s marquee clashes. They meet June 13 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

The Tournament: What Comes Next

The full 2026 World Cup schedule runs June 11 through July 19, 2026:

• Group stage: June 11 – June 27
• Round of 32: June 28 – July 3
• Round of 16: July 4 – July 7
• Quarterfinals: July 9 – July 11
• Semifinals: July 14 – July 15
• Final: July 19 at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ

The opening match — Mexico vs. South Africa — kicks off June 11 in Mexico City at 3:00 p.m. ET. The final, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, is July 19.

World Cup Season Fires Up Soccer at Every Level

The draw is done and the countdown is real. According to research by Samford University’s sports analytics team, 75% of Americans plan to follow the 2026 World Cup — about 87 million people. U.S. viewership of international soccer has grown 60% since 2018.

That energy doesn’t stay on the TV. It hits local fields. Youth coaches add extra sessions. Players start studying film. Parents show up to games with their cameras out.

If your team is riding that wave, this might be the season to start filming your games properly — not phone clips from the sideline, but actual usable footage to review, share, and learn from.

The XbotGo Falcon is a standalone 4K AI camera that auto-tracks players and the ball across the field. No dedicated operator, no subscription required, two-minute setup. Coaches use it for post-game film sessions; players build highlight reels; parents finally catch the full play, not just the aftermath. With the biggest World Cup in history happening right here in North America, this could be the season your team’s moments deserve to be documented.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw took place December 5, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. ET at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. All 48 nations are sorted, all 12 groups are set, and the tournament opens June 11 in Mexico City. Whether you’re tracking the USA’s path through Group D, monitoring France’s bracket, or following your national team from across the globe — the stage is fully built.