THE 2026 FIFA World Cup draw takes place today — and with Ireland keeping alive their qualification hopes, all eyes will be on Washington DC.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s side must come through a play-off double-header in March, but will learn their potential group for next summer’s tournament in USA, Canada and Mexico this evening.

The draw gets going at 5pm Irish time, with live coverage on fifa.com and RTÉ 2.

Expect plenty of pageantry as Fifa team up with US President Donald Trump at the John F Kennedy Centre for Performing Arts.

How it works

Rather than ‘Republic of Ireland’, look out for for European Play-Off D in Pot 4.

The 48 teams are split evenly into four pots, with one team from each pot making up the 12 groups of four teams at next summer’s tournament.

The draw will begin with all of the teams from Pot 1 being drawn to groups A to L. It will continue with Pots 2, 3 and 4 in that order, so Ireland AKA European Play-Off D must wait some time to learn their prospective fate.

Here’s a look at the pots

(42 of the 48 teams are confirmed with six places to be filled by the European and intercontinental play-off winners. The placeholders are in Pot 4, with the others, hosts aside, in order of Fifa world rankings.)

Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany.

Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, IR Iran, Korea Republic, Ecuador, Austria, Australia.

Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa.

Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, European Play-Off A (Italy/Northern Ireland/Wales/Bosnia), European Play-Off B (Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania), European Play-Off C (Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo), European Play-Off D (Ireland/Denmark/North Macedonia/Czechia), Fifa Intercontinental Play-Off 1 (New Caledonia/Jamaica/DR Congo), Fifa Intercontinental Play-Off 2 (Bolivia/Suriname/Iraq).

European exception 

Uefa is the only confederation allowed to have more than one team in the same qualifying group. With 16 teams qualifying, that means four of the 12 groups will contain two European sides.

The four highest-ranked nations (Spain, Argentina, France and England) will be kept apart until the semi-finals, if all four top their groups. 

The three host nations have already been assigned to groups: USA 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 11 June –- and one in Guadalajara. Canada will occupy Group B with one game in Toronto and two in Vancouver.

The fixture schedule is due to follow at 5pm on Saturday: Fifa say they will assign group games to time zones more suitable for those competing. 

The group stages will run from Thursday 11 June to Saturday 27 June 2026, with the top two teams and eight best third-placed teams advancing to the knockout round of 32.

For Ireland, the focus is on March first. They play Czechia away on Thursday 26 March, before the winners host Denmark or North Macedonia on Tuesday 31 March with a coveted World Cup ticket on the line.

Shamrock Rovers captain, Dubliner Roberto ‘Pico’ Lopes, will be waiting to see who his Cape Verde side draw this evening: they’re in Pot 4 alongside European Play-Off D, so a potential group stage showdown against Ireland is out of the question.

Additional reporting from – © AFP 2025

Follow The 42 for all of the draw coverage, including reaction from Heimir Hallgrímsson afterwards

Written by Emma Duffy and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.