Getty ImagesEngland pot in World Cup draw: Where Three Lions will be selected for 2026 FIFA group stage originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.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.The Sporting News 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 worksEngland pot in World Cup drawEngland 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 potsAfter 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 rankingPot 1Pot 2Pot 3Pot 4Canada* (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 ABrazil (5)Iran (20)Ivory Coast (42)UEFA playoff BPortugal (6)South Korea (22)Uzbekistan (50)UEFA playoff CNetherlands (7)Ecuador (23)Qatar (51)UEFA playoff DBelgium (8)Austria (24)Saudi Arabia (60)Intercontinental playoff 1Germany (9)Australia (26)South Africa (61)Intercontinental playoff 2*Host nationTeams in World Cup 2026 playoffsThe 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.NationConfederationFIFA rankPlayoff pathwayItalyUEFA12UEFA Path AWalesUEFA32UEFA Path ANorthern IrelandUEFA69UEFA Path ABosnia & HerzegovinaUEFA71UEFA Path AUkraineUEFA28UEFA Path BPolandUEFA31UEFA Path BSwedenUEFA43UEFA Path BAlbaniaUEFA63UEFA Path BTurkeyUEFA25UEFA Path CSlovakiaUEFA45UEFA Path CRomaniaUEFA47UEFA Path CKosovoUEFA80UEFA Path CDenmarkUEFA21UEFA Path DCzechiaUEFA44UEFA Path DRep. of IrelandUEFA59UEFA Path DNorth MacedoniaUEFA65UEFA Path DDR CongoCAF56Intercontinental Path 1JamaicaCONCACAF70Intercontinental Path 1New CaledoniaOFC149Intercontinental Path 1IraqAFC58Intercontinental Path 2BoliviaCONMEBOL76Intercontinental Path 2SurinameCONCACAF123Intercontinental Path 2MORE:Fixture schedule, dates of UEFA playoffs | Fixture schedule, dates of intercontinental playoffsHow 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 StatesRevisiting the first World Cup in 1930Most World Cup wins by countryFuture World Cup locations for 2030 and beyondGuide to host countries, cities for 2026 World Cup