World Cup 2026 draw: England to face Croatia, USMNT draw Australia while Brazil face tricky clash with Morocco and Erling Haaland's Norway face Kylian Mbappe's France

Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, drew his nation into Group B as the first pick, while Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum drew her nation into Group A. United States president Donald Trump then drew the United States National Team into Group D.

Brazil were the first non-host team drawn by Birmingham shareholder Tom Brady, and were drawn into Group C, while Germany were drawn into Group E, the Netherlands into Group F, Belgium into Group G, Spain into Group H, Argentina into Group J (because they cannot meet Spain in their pathway), France into Group I, Portugal into Group K and England, the final team out of the pot, into Group L. 

Thomas Tuchel's side will subsequently be playing their first game in either Toronto or Dallas, their second in Toronto or Boston, and their third in New York or Philadelphia. 

Shaquille O'Neal, the NBA legend, drew from Pot 2, before NFL star Aaron Judge drew from Pot 3, and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky drew from Pot 4.

Group A: Mexico, South Africa, Korea Republic, Denmark / North Macedonia / Czechia / Republic of Ireland.

Group B: Canada, Qatar, Switzerland, Italy/ Northern Ireland / Wales / Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland.

Group D: USMNT, Paraguay, Australia, Turkiye / Romania / Slovakia / Kosovo.

Group E: Germany, Curacao, Cote D'Ivoire, Ecuador.

Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, Ukraine / Sweden / Poland / Albania.

Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand.

Group H: Spain, Cabo Verde, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia

Group I: France, Senegal, Norway, Iraq / Bolivia / Suriname

Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan.

Group K: Portugal, Congo DR / Jamaica / New Caledonia, Uzbekistan, Colombia.

Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama.

The 2026 World Cup will begin with the clash between Mexico and South Africa in Group A. The game will take place on Thursday June 11, 2026, and from there, the tournament will begin. England will face Croatia in a rerun of the 2018 World Cup semi-final and will also meet familiar opponents in Panama, having played them at the same tournament. That game ended in a 6-1 win for the Three Lions, as Harry Kane scored a hat-trick. Tuchel's side will also face Ghana, but have only played them once before, doing so in a friendly in 2011. That game resulted in a 1-1 draw. 

England's first game will take place on June 17 against Croatia, before their second game on June 23 against Ghana, and they then round out the initial phase of the tournament on June 27, with their clash against minnows Panama. 

Pundit Dion Dublin said on BBC Sport: "Regarding England, I think the African nations always give England a hard game. I'm expecting England to do what they need to do against Panama. Ghana and Croatia I'm a little bit worried about."

Scottish pundit Scott Brown added on their draw: "We've got to look to beat Haiti, it will be a huge game for us. Morocco, we'll be underdogs from looking at the world rankings, it's a hard game. Brazil is the big one. Everyone will want to be at that Scotland v Brazil game. Seeing that yellow shirt, they've got top quality players. As do Morocco. We've got to beat Haiti and try to pick up points somewhere else. There is hope for us."

The tournament will kick off soon enough next year but first, come the playoffs, with the competition's field set to be rounded out. The semi-finals will take place on Thursday March 26 and the finals on Tuesday March 31 with kick-off times of 5pm or 7.45pm.

The winners of the four play-off finals qualify for the World Cup and complete the field of 16 European participants.