Argentina will journey to the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the defending world champions.
Lionel Messi (potentially) and the rest of La Albiceleste won the 2022 edition in Qatar. Next up is the 2026 edition co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
It'll be a whole new tournament, with 48 teams instead of 32 adding another variable to the proceedings.
On Friday, Argentina will begin to learn what its path will look like. The World Cup draw takes place at 12 noon ET in Washington, D.C.
That's when teams will be assigned to their groups, with group play kicking off World Cup action when the tournament arrives.
Argentina pot in World Cup draw
Argentina will be a part of Pot 1 in the 2026 World Cup draw.
Pot 1 is where the top-ranked teams in the world are placed (along with the hosts).
Each pot has 12 teams, so the three hosts are joined by teams number 1-9 in the world rankings.
The important part of being in Pot 1 is this: You won't see another Pot 1 team in the group stage. A team from each of the four pots ends up in each of the four groups.
MORE: A complete guide to the FIFA World Cup draw
World Cup 2026 draw pots
The pots are relatively straightforward, done by world rankings along with the variable that the three hosts are all in Pot 1.
The tricky part is that anyone still to advance from the playoff system, which will be four from UEFA and two from the intercontinental playoff, will all be placed in Pot 4, even if their world ranking is higher.
Teams are listed below with world ranking in parantheses. Argentina is currently No. 2 in the world
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Canada* (27) | Croatia (10) | Norway (29) | Jordan (66) |
| Mexico* (15) | Morocco (11) | Panama (30) | Cape Verde (68) |
| USA* (14) | Colombia (13) | Egypt (34) | Ghana (72) |
| Spain (1) | Uruguay (16) | Algeria (35) | Curacao (82) |
| Argentina (2) | Switzerland (17) | Scotland (36) | Haiti (84) |
| France (3) | Japan (18) | Paraguay (39) | New Zealand (86) |
| England (4) | Senegal (19) | Tunisia (40) | UEFA playoff A |
| Brazil (5) | Iran (20) | Ivory Coast (42) | UEFA playoff B |
| Portugal (6) | South Korea (22) | Uzbekistan (50) | UEFA playoff C |
| Netherlands (7) | Ecuador (23) | Qatar (51) | UEFA playoff D |
| Belgium (8) | Austria (24) | Saudi Arabia (60) | Intercontinental playoff 1 |
| Germany (9) | Australia (26) | South Africa (61) | Intercontinental playoff 2 |
How does the World Cup 2026 draw work?
The draw is a random selection of four teams, one from each pot, into each group.
There will be more four-team groups at this World Cup than ever before. With 48 teams for the first time, that's 12 groups.
The top-two finishers in each group will advance to the knockout round, along with the eight-best third-place finishers, determined by points, then goal difference, then a handful of other tiebreakers.
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