Korea confirmed in Pot 2 as FIFA reveals World Cup draw procedures
Korean players acknowledge fans after beating Ghana in a friendly football match at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul, Nov. 18. Yonhap
FIFA has finalized the procedures for the draw for the 2026 World Cup, confirming Korea's place in the second-highest pot.
Football's global governing body announced the draw process to determine the composition of the tournament's 12 groups Tuesday (Switzerland time), with the United States, Canada and Mexico preparing to host the first 48-team World Cup next summer.
The draw is scheduled for noon on Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, or 2 a.m. on Dec. 6 (Korean time).
As had been expected, the three co-hosts will end up in Pot 1 and will be joined by the top nine qualified countries based on the latest FIFA rankings announced last week. They are Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.
The next dozen qualified nations will be allocated to Pot 2. Korea, ranked No. 22, will be in that group, alongside Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, Ecuador, Austria and Australia.
Since teams in the same pot will not face each other in the group stage, Korea will avoid top-20 nations, such as Croatia, Morocco, Colombia and Japan, who recently upset No. 5 Brazil.
Two teams from the same confederation cannot be placed in the same group, with the exception of Europe, which can have up to two nations drawn together.
FIFA also confirmed that the four winners of the European playoffs and the two winners of the inter-confederation playoffs will be placed into Pot 4, regardless of their ranking positions.
This could create multiple "groups of death," as world No. 12 Italy and No. 21 Denmark could end up in Pot 4 out of their European playoffs to join World Cup debutants Jordan, Cabo Verde and Curacao, all ranked outside the top 50. For instance, the defending champions Argentina, world No. 2, may end up with Croatia (No. 10), Panama (No. 30) and Italy.
The Pot 3 teams are Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
Pot 4 will be made up of Jordan, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Curacao, Haiti, New Zealand, the four European playoff winners and the two inter-confederation playoff winners.
FIFA will ensure a competitive balance by putting No. 1 Spain and No. 2 Argentina on the opposite sides of the knockout bracket, should they both qualify, so that they will only meet in the final.
Korea will be playing in their 11th consecutive World Cup. They reached the knockouts in 2002, 2010 and 2022, going as far as the semifinals as a co-host country with Japan in 2002.