The draw for FIFA World Cup 2026 is now just weeks away, scheduled to take place on 5 December 2025.
That means Bafana Bafana will soon know which countries they will be facing in the tournament to be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 DRAW – EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
The official draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take on Friday, 5 December 2025 at 19:00 (SA time) at the Kennedy Centre in Washington DC.
This will be the biggest draw – literally – in the history of the global showpiece.
Not just for South Africa who have qualified for the first time in 24 years, but by virtue of having the most teams in history.
The 2026 edition will have 48 teams – a substantial 50% increase from the traditional norm of 32 nations.
To date, 42 nations have qualified.
The final six spots will be determined in the coming days and weeks.
BAFANA BAFANA TO TAKE ON THE WORLD
On 5 December, Hugo Broos and his Bafana Bafana team will know their World Cup fate.
Speaking of World Cup fate, these Kaizer Chiefs stars may represent SA in the WC next year.
So, how will Bafana’s opponents be determined?
The 12 groups at FIFA World Cup 2026 will include one team from each of the four predetermined pots.
FIFA will start by drawing the teams from pot one.
Co-hosts Mexico (A1), Canada (B1) and the United States (D1) will have coloured balls with their flags on to denote their special status. Their group positions are pre-determined so they play all their games in their own countries.
Once a team has been drawn they will go into the first available group in alphabetical order. The draw computer will ensure Spain, Argentina, France and England are placed in groups in the correct section of the bracket.
The draw then continues with pot two, pot three and finally pot four.
In a change to previous draw procedures, and to speed up the process, countries will not be drawn into their group position.
Seeded countries will all go into position one, with a pre-determined random grid determining how all other countries will slot into the group to create the fixtures.
No group can have more than one country from the same confederation. So for instance when Colombia are drawn from pot two, they cannot go into a group with Argentina or Brazil.
This applies to all pots, with the caveat that four groups will have two European nations, as there are 16 European qualifiers to be drawn into 12 groups.
The inter-confederation playoffs will have few potential group options. Pathway 1 (New Caledonia, Jamaica, DR Congo) cannot be drawn into a group with Concacaf or African teams. Pathway 2 (Bolivia, Suriname, Iraq) must avoid South America, Concacaf and Asia.
While the date and order of games will be known when the draw is made, the venues and kick-off times will not be confirmed until Saturday, 6 December.
This is the first time Bafana have qualified for the tournament in 24 years since they last did so back in 2002.
However, the last time they competed at a FIFA World Cup was in 2010 – as hosts.
