It's FIFA World Cup draw day! That means plenty of excitement and also plenty of waiting around for the draw to actually start.
Today's ceremony takes place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. As teams finally learn their groups and their routes to the final for next summer's tournament.
All 42 confirmed qualifiers will be drawn into 12 groups of four each, while the remaining six spots will also be allocated for the future qualifiers as well.
AllSportsPeople brings you all the information on the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw, including when it will take place, where it will be held, and how to tune in.
2026 WORLD CUP HQ: Live World Cup draw tracker | Latest World Cup news | Full World Cup schedule
What time is the 2026 World Cup draw?
The draw will begin at 12 p.m. Local time on Friday, December 5 on the east coast of the United States. Below is a list of start times translated across all time zones in the mainland United States.
| Time Zone | Time |
| Eastern Time | 12 p.m. ET |
| Central Time | 11 a.m. CT |
| Mountain Time | 10 a.m. MT |
| Pacific Time | 9 a.m. PT |
What time is the actual World Cup draw starting?
Despite the draw ceremony officially getting underway at 12 p.m. ET, there will be plenty of build-up before the actual drawing of the groups gets underway.
With chats from the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Tom Brady, Shaquille O’Neal, Wayne Gretzky and Aaron Judge all set to take place and musical performances from Robbie Williams, Nicole Scherzinger and Andrea Bocelli, we could be waiting a while.
With all the above in mind, we're probably looking at estimated start time for the allocation of the groups at approximately 12:45 p.m. ET.
How to watch World Cup draw 2026: TV channel, live stream
- ENGLISH:
- TV channel: FOX
- Streaming: Fubo, Fox Sports app
- SPANISH:
FOX has the English-language rights to all major FIFA competitions in the United States through the 2026 World Cup.
Thus, they will have the rights to the World Cup draw, with the event televised on FOX.
There will be a Spanish-language broadcast also available on Telemundo. All broadcasts will be accessible on Fubo, who are offering a free trial for new users. The Spanish-language broadcast is also available on Peacock.
How does the FIFA World Cup draw work?
For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a random draw will be conducted to determine the 12 groups, each consisting of four teams.
The 48 teams will be split into four pots, with each group consisting of one team from each pot.
You can find a full breakdown of how the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will work here.