England's wait for a second World Cup success will tick on to 60 years by the time the 2026 tournament in North America rolls around.
After back-to-back European Championship final defeats under Gareth Southgate, Thomas Tuchel has taken charge of a gifted squad, hoping to take that final step towards winning major honours.
The Three Lions plotted a perfect path to qualification with eight wins out of eight to top their UEFA group ahead of Albania and Serbia.
Undoubtedly, tougher assignments will be dealt out at the 2026 World Cup draw on Friday, December 5.
AllSportsPeople brings you a look at what pot England will be pulled from in the group-stage draw, and how the event could shape up.
MORE: How the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw works
England pot in World Cup draw
England will be placed in Pot 1 for the 2026 World Cup draw.
This is on account of their place at No. 4 in the FIFA rankings announced in November 2025.
Alongside co-hosts the United States, Canada and Mexico, the remaining 12 places in Pot 1 are taken up by the teams ranked one to nine in the world by FIFA.
World Cup 2026 draw pots
After the combination of the top-ranked teams and the three co-hosts in Pot 1, the next best 12 teams land in Pot 2, and so on.
FIFA stated that all remaining to-be-determined qualifiers — the four from the March UEFA playoffs and the two to qualify from the intercontinental playoffs — will be in Pot 4 regardless of their world ranking.
Numbers in parentheses denote FIFA ranking
| 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 |
*Host nation
Teams in World Cup 2026 playoffs
The below teams are taking part in the World Cup playoffs next March and are therefore still in with a chance of qualifying for the finals.
| Nation | Confederation | FIFA rank | Playoff pathway |
| Italy | UEFA | 12 | UEFA Path A |
| Wales | UEFA | 32 | UEFA Path A |
| Northern Ireland | UEFA | 69 | UEFA Path A |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | UEFA | 71 | UEFA Path A |
| Ukraine | UEFA | 28 | UEFA Path B |
| Poland | UEFA | 31 | UEFA Path B |
| Sweden | UEFA | 43 | UEFA Path B |
| Albania | UEFA | 63 | UEFA Path B |
| Turkey | UEFA | 25 | UEFA Path C |
| Slovakia | UEFA | 45 | UEFA Path C |
| Romania | UEFA | 47 | UEFA Path C |
| Kosovo | UEFA | 80 | UEFA Path C |
| Denmark | UEFA | 21 | UEFA Path D |
| Czechia | UEFA | 44 | UEFA Path D |
| Rep. Of Ireland | UEFA | 59 | UEFA Path D |
| North Macedonia | UEFA | 65 | UEFA Path D |
| DR Congo | CAF | 56 | Intercontinental Path 1 |
| Jamaica | CONCACAF | 70 | Intercontinental Path 1 |
| New Caledonia | OFC | 149 | Intercontinental Path 1 |
| Iraq | AFC | 58 | Intercontinental Path 2 |
| Bolivia | CONMEBOL | 76 | Intercontinental Path 2 |
| Suriname | CONCACAF | 123 | Intercontinental Path 2 |
MORE: Fixture schedule, dates of UEFA playoffs | Fixture schedule, dates of intercontinental playoffs
How does the World Cup 2026 draw work?
For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a random draw will be conducted to determine the 12 groups, each consisting of four teams.
Each group consists of one team from each pot.
You can find a full breakdown of how the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will work here.
MORE WORLD CUP NEWS:
- Last time the World Cup was in United States
- Revisiting the first World Cup in 1930
- Most World Cup wins by country
- Future World Cup locations for 2030 and beyond
- Guide to host countries, cities for 2026 World Cup