The 2026 World Cup draw took place today at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Croatia will play in Group L against England, Panama, and Ghana in the 2026 World Cup next summer in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.
- June 17, 2026: Croatia – England (Toronto/Dallas)
- June 23, 2026: Croatia – Panama (Boston/Toronto)
- June 27, 2026: Croatia – Ghana (New Jersey/Philadelphia)
At today’s draw, the national teams learned their groups, as well as the match dates. The venue and exact match times will be announced tomorrow after a separate ceremony.
The draw
Croatia was placed into Pot 2 for the draw. This meant that they could be in a group with a maximum of one more team from Europe, while at least two national teams in the group will certainly be from other continents.
Pot 1: United States, Canada, Mexico, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany.
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia.
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa.
Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand and the winners of the UEFA and intercontinental playoffs.
Recall that forty-two teams have already qualified. The remaining six will be announced in March: four from the European and two from the intercontinental play-offs. The sixteen European teams are divided into four mini-tournaments, with the winner of each advancing to the World Cup.
The six teams from the other continents are divided into two mini-tournaments of three teams, with the winners also advancing to the World Cup. FIFA has decided that all qualifying teams will automatically be in the fourth pot.
UEFA play-off routes:
Route 1: Wales / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Italy / Northern Ireland
Route 2: Ukraine / Sweden / Poland / Albania
Route 3: Slovakia / Kosovo / Turkey / Romania
Route 4: Czech Republic / Ireland / Denmark / S. Macedonia
Intercontinental playoffs: New Caledonia / Jamaica / DR Congo and Bolivia / Suriname / Iraq.
This will be the first World Cup to feature 48 teams, 16 more than at the last World Cup. This means that the total number of matches will increase from 64 to 104. The tournament runs from June 11 to July 19 next year, making it the longest ever.
The national teams will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each. The two best teams from each group and eight of the 12 third-placed national teams will advance to the knockout round.
Stay tuned tomorrow to find out where Croatia will be playing each group match!
