England have found out their group stage opponents at the World Cup in 2026 in America following the draw at the John F. Kennedy centre.

The Build-Up

At the John F. Kennedy centre, famous figures sat awaiting the World Cup group stage draw in America next year.

Andrea Bocelli opened the show with his classical voice as Kevin Hart and Heidi Klum hosted the draw.

Then out come Gianni Infantino to properly kick off the draw as hundreds of thousands awaited to see who their country would face in the 'greatest event mankind will ever see'.

Infantino tried to get the atmosphere going by getting the Americans, Canadians and Mexicans to chant their countries name but all everyone wanted was to find out who their team would face in their bid for World Cup 2026.

Now, following a performance from Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger, it was time... 

But not for the draw just yet. It was time for the first ever FIFA Peace Prize, awarded to Donald J Trump in recognition for 'his exceptional and extraordinary actions to promote peace and unity around the world'. All this to pick 48 balls out of a bowl some have said.

Then out on stage come the manager of Argentina's success in 2022 in Qatar, Lionel Scaloni whilst Danny Ramirez headed over to chat to Brazil legend Roberto Carlos

But now it was finally time, 53 minutes after the live show begun, for the draw of the 23rd World Cup.

The draw begun as Mark Carney, Canada Prime Minister, Mexico's Prime Minister Claudia Sheinbaum and the US President pulled out their own countries, the host nations, putting Canada in Group D, Mexico in Group B and the US in group A.

However that was enough for now as it was time for a little break as Danny Ramirez spoke to Hugo Sanchez, followed by a performance from American rapper Lauryn Hill.

Carley Lloyd, former America Women's player, was next to join the American actor Ramirez before the draw could finally kick off properly.

The draw was conducted by Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand. Joining him as the co-conductor of the draw was British-Jamaican presenter Samantha Johnson.

Then it was time for the draw assistants to come out. First was former Canadian ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky, then American baseball outfielder Aaron Judge, followed by former American basketball player Shaquille O'Neal and NFL icon and current Birmingham City owner Tom Brady; a wide variety of sports on show.

The Draw

But finally, it was kick off time- an hour and a half after the show begun; a time that Scotland midfielder John McGinn expressed his dismay over on X. 

pic.twitter.com/iENv1eQfDT

— John McGinn (@jmcginn7) December 5, 2025

Tom Brady was first to pull out a team and Brazil it was. The five-time World Cup champions were put in group C. Germany were next as the Netherlands swiftly followed. The current holders, Argentina, were drawn into Group J

England, who won all eight of their qualifying games without conceding a goal, were the final team of Pot One drawn as they entered group L.

This World Cup was already going to be historic as 48 teams were to compete for the first time, and now they all know their immediate fate.

Time for Pot Two, drawn by Shaquille O'Neal. 

Korea Republic were first out, drawn into Group A with Mexico, followed by Switzerland joining Canada in group B. Brazil were greeted with a tough first game in Morocco as they were drawn into group C.

Drawn with England in Group L were Croatia, who beat England in the 2018 World Cup semi-finals. The pair will meet in each others first game next year in America.

Pot 3 was next to be drawn by Aaron Judge whilst pot 4 was drawn by Wayne Gretzky. 

The Key Moments

The first game of the World Cup 2026 was confirmed as Mexico face off against South Africa. America's first game will be against South American Paraguay.

England's group will see them face Croatia, Panama, and Ghana. England's first game will be against Croatia.

Joint-hosts Mexico were put into a group with South Africa, Korea Republic and the winner of Play off D.

America were joined in group D by Paraguay, Australia and the winner of European play-off C.

The other co-host Canada will face the winner of Play-off A, Qatar and Switzerland.

Scotland were drawn into one of the tougher groups of the draw in group C with Brazil, Morocco and Haiti. Scotland will kick off their campaign against Haiti, who will be making their second-ever World Cup appearance.

Holders of the competition Argentina were drawn with Algeria, Austria and Jordan, with their defence kicking off against Algeria.

See the full draw below.

🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: THE COMPLETE WORLD CUP GROUP STAGES DRAW! ✨ pic.twitter.com/UxpIV4bsLW

— The Touchline | 𝐓 (@TouchlineX) December 5, 2025