Who could England play at the 2026 World Cup? When is the draw?

England are on the brink of securing their spot in the 2026 World Cup, with victory over Latvia on Tuesday evening all that stands between them and qualification. Thomas Tuchel's squad have been in fine form, sitting comfortably at the top of Group K with an impressive five wins out of five.

With just three UEFA qualifying matches remaining, England's ticket to the upcoming World Cup is almost guaranteed. They've kept clean sheets throughout the qualification process, netting 13 goals and bagging a perfect 15 points. The Three Lions will take on Latvia in Riga on Tuesday evening, where a win would officially seal their place in next year's tournament. Here are all the essential details about the World Cup draw that England could soon be part of, including timings and potential opponents for the Three Lions.

When is the 2026 World Cup draw?

The draw for the 2026 World Cup is set for December 5. It will be broadcast live from the Kennedy Center in Washington via FIFA's official YouTube channel, with proceedings kicking off at 5pm UK time. In a departure from the usual format, this World Cup will feature 12 groups instead of eight. The draw will consist of four pots, determined by FIFA rankings.

Starting with Pot 1, once a ball is selected, the team named within will be randomly assigned to a group, with some geographical considerations taken into account.

The World Cup draw rules state that no country can be drawn into a group with another team from their own confederation, with the exception of European countries who can face a maximum of one other UEFA nation in their group. The draw process will commence with Pot 1, then proceed through to four, and then back to one, until all 48 teams are drawn.

Who could England potentially face at the 2026 World Cup?

The three host nations, Canada, the United States and Mexico, automatically qualify and will be placed in Pot 1, which will also house the top nine countries in the FIFA World Ranking who have qualified.

England currently sit fourth in these rankings and so, should they qualify as expected, they likely will not face any of these three sides in the group stages. Spain, France, Argentina, Portugal, Brazil, the Netherlands, Belgium and Croatia currently complete the top nine and would also be unlikely group stage opponents for England.

From the Asian qualifiers, Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea and Uzbekistan have already secured their spots. Algeria, Egypt, Cape Verde, Morocco and Tunisia have qualified from Africa. From South America, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay are also in.

New Zealand directly qualified for the competition from the Oceania qualifying. There are still the qualifying play-offs and plenty of matches to be played, however.

When does the 2026 World Cup start?

The largest World Cup in history is set to kick off on June 11, 2026 in Mexico, with a total of 104 matches scheduled across three countries.

Group stage matches will continue until June 28, immediately followed by the round of 32. The round of 16 will get underway on July 4, and the quarter-finals are slated for July 9-11.

The semi-finals will start three days later on July 14 , with the second match taking place on July 15. The grand finale of the tournament will be held on Sunday, July 19 in New Jersey.