S. Korea to face Mexico, South Africa, European qualifier at 2026 FIFA World Cup
South Korea's flag is displayed on a scren during the draw for the 2026 FIFA Football World Cup taking place in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, at the Kennedy Center, in Washington D.C., Friday. AFP-Yonhap
SEOUL — South Korea will take on Mexico, South Africa, and a European playoff qualifier in the group stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The draw for the 23rd edition of football's premier event took place at the Kennedy Center in Washington Friday (local time). Co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, the 2026 World Cup, set to run from June 11 to July 19, will be the largest tournament in history.
South Korea will play in their 11th consecutive World Cup and 12th overall.
They have reached the knockout stage three times — reaching the semifinals in 2002 as co-hosts and the round of 16 in 2010 in South Africa and in 2022 in Qatar.
There will be 12 groups of four teams each at the upcoming World Cup. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knockout stage, and the eight best third-placed teams will join them.
At Friday's draw, the 42 countries that had already qualified were placed into four "pots," based on their FIFA ranking positions from November. The three co-hosts — United States, Canada, and Mexico — were automatically placed in Pot 1, regardless of their ranking. The remaining nine spots in Pot 1 were filled by the top nine qualified nations, including world No. 1 Spain and defending champions Argentina, currently world No. 2.
As the 22nd-ranked team, South Korea were in Pot 2.
With 42 nations currently qualified, the six remaining spots will be filled by the four winners of the European playoffs and the two winning sides from the FIFA interconfederation playoffs. Those six spots were placed into Pot 4.
Groups for the three co-hosts were predetermined, with Mexico in Group A, Canada in Group B and the U.S. in Group D.
And South Korea's name was the first to be drawn from Pot 2, as they ended up in Group A. South Africa joined them moments later.
Group A then drew the winner from "Path D" in the European playoffs, one of the four series on that continent.
In Path D, the Czech Republic and Ireland will meet in one semifinal match, while Denmark and North Macedonia will square off in the other, with both matches set for March 26. The semifinal winners will clash on March 31 for the right to get into Group A.
Denmark are the highest-ranked team in that European playoff bracket at No. 21.
At No. 15, Mexico had the second-lowest ranking position in Pot 1, ahead only of No. 27 Canada.
South Korea and Mexico had a 2-2 draw in a friendly match in September in Nashville, Tennessee, where South Korea conceded a late equalizer after battling back from a 1-0 deficit.
This will be the third World Cup in which the two countries will face each other in the group stage, with Mexico prevailing in the first two meetings. They had a 3-1 win in France in 1998 and a 2-1 victory in Russia in 2018.
South Korea have four wins, three draws and eight losses against Mexico, their last victory having come in February 2006.
South Africa were the lowest-ranked nation in Pot 3 at No. 61. South Korea and South Africa have never played each other at the senior level.
On paper, Denmark will be the favorite to emerge victorious from Path D. South Korea and Denmark have only met twice so far, with Denmark winning the first meeting 3-1 in February 2006 and the two sides playing to a goalless draw in a friendly match in November 2009.
Group A teams will play on the opening day of the tournament on June 11, with Mexico taking on South Africa at Mexico City Stadium in Mexico City, and South Korea facing the European playoff winner at Estadio Guadalajara in Zapopan.
The second round of matches will take place a week later, as South Korea play Mexico in Zapopan and South Africa go up against the European team in Atlanta.
The final Group A matches will be June 24: South Korea versus South Africa at Estadio Monterrey in Guadalupe, and Mexico against the European qualifier in Mexico City.
Below are the full results of the draw.
Group A: Mexico, South Korea, South Africa, European playoff D
Group B: Canada, Switzerland, Qatar, European playoff A
Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti
Group D: United States, Australia, Paraguay, European playoff C
Group E: Germany, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Curacao
Group F: Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia, European playoff B
Group G: Belgium, Iran, Egypt, New Zealand
Group H: Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde
Group I: France, Senegal, Norway, FIFA playoff 2
Group J: Argentina, Austria, Algeria, Jordan
Group K: Portugal, Colombia, Uzbekistan, FIFA playoff 1
Group L: England, Croatia, Panama, Ghana