World Cup: Trump, Tom Brady among figures to help reveal groupings
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FIFA revealed its World Cup groupings at a star-studded event in Washington, D.C., on Friday.
With the help of President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, NFL legend Tom Brady, NBA great Shaquille O’Neal, New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge, and the NHL’s greatest player of all time, Wayne Gretzky, all 12 groups were announced.
All the aforementioned individuals selected random balls that contained the countries’ names, and their selections assigned them to their groups. Trump, Sheinbaum and Carney all picked their own countries’ names to begin the process.
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President Donald Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney hold their countries’ cards during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Dec. 5, 2025. (Stephanie Scarbrough, Pool/AP Photo)
Brady selected the teams in Pot 1, O’Neal picked Pot 2’s teams, and Judge and Gretzky had Pots 3 and 4, respectively.
While the groups were created on Friday, six of the 48 teams participating will only be known in March 2026. Four of them will come from the 16-team UEFA playoffs.
The countries competing in the UEFA play-offs are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, Denmark, Italy, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, North Macedonia, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales.
The remaining two spots will be decided at the FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off Tournament. The six teams competing in that tournament are Bolivia, Congo DR, Iraq, Jamaica, New Caledonia and Suriname.
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(L/R) FIFA President Gianni Infantino, US President Donald Trump, and Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum stand on stage during the draw for the 2026 FIFA Football World Cup taking place in the US, Canada and Mexico, at the Kennedy Center, in Washington, DC, on December 5, 2025. (Stephanie Scarbrough / POOL / AFP)
Below are all 12 groups:
Group A
Mexico
South Africa
Korea Republic
Winner UEFA Play-off D
Group B
Canada
Winner UEFA Play-off A
Qatar
Switzerland
Group C
Brazil
Morocco
Haiti
Scotland
Group D
USA
Paraguay
Australia
Winner UEFA Play-off C
Group E
Germany
Curaçao
Côte d’Ivoire
Ecuador
Group F
Netherlands
Japan
Winner UEFA Play-off B
Tunisia
Group G
Belgium
Egypt
IR Iran
Group H
Spain
Cabo Verde
Uruguay
Group I
France
Senegal
Winner FIFA Play-off 2
Norway
Group J
Argentina
Algeria
Austria
Jordan
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Alejandro Zendejas (17) scores a goal and celebrates with Max Arfsten (18), Cristian Roldan (24) and Christian Pulisic (10) during an international friendly game between Japan and USMNT at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio, on Sept. 9, 2025. (Robin Alam/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
Group K
Portugal
Winner FIFA Play-off 1
Uzbekistan
Colombia
Group L
England
Croatia
Ghana
Panama
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