NFL legend Tom Brady, ice hockey icon Wayne Gretzky and former NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal will be among the stars helping to conduct Friday’s draw for FIFA World Cup 2026.
Football’s global governing body said in a statement that former England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand would lead the draw taking place at Washington’s Kennedy Center.
Ferdinand and broadcaster Samantha Johnson will be backed by a phalanx of stars drawn from across the North American sporting landscape.
Draw assistants
All four of North America’s biggest professional sports leagues – the NFL, the NBA, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball will be represented.
Seven-time Super Bowl champion Brady, four-time Stanley Cup winner Gretzky and four-time NBA champion O’Neal will be joined by New York Yankees baseball star Aaron Judge, with all four serving as draw assistants.
“Being part of the final draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026 is an incredible honour – it’s the kind of global stage every athlete dreams of,” Brady said.
Friday’s World Cup draw will determine group allocations for next year’s tournament, which has been expanded to 48 teams and will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
President Donald Trump is expected to feature prominently at the event, with the US leader strongly tipped to receive a new FIFA Peace Prize announced by football supremo Gianni Infantino last month.
The draw will start at 19:00 (SA time).
How the draw will work
Teams have been split into four pots of 12 based on the latest world ranking, with one team from each pot going into each of the 12 groups of four.
For the first time, FIFA has decided that the draw will be done in such a way as to ensure the four highest-ranked nations are kept apart.
Spain, Argentina, France and England will not therefore be able to meet before the semi-finals, if all four top their groups – unlike the scenario which played out at Wednesday’s Rugby World Cup 2027 draw.
No group can have more than one team from the same confederation, except UEFA.
With 16 teams qualifying, that means four of the 12 groups will contain two European nations.
The three host nations have already been assigned to groups.
The United States will be in Group D and will play two matches in Los Angeles as well as one in Seattle.
Mexico will be in Group A in which they play two matches at the Azteca in Mexico City – including the tournament’s opening game on June 11 – and one in Guadalajara.
Canada will occupy Group B with one game in Toronto and two in Vancouver.
POT ALLOCATION
- Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
- Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
- Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
- Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, four European playoff winners, two intercontinental playoff winners
