Canada men get first look at what could await them at draw for 2026 FIFA World Cup

The UEFA Playoff tree is shown on a screen next to Manolo Zubiria, Chief Tournament Officer for the FIFA World Cup 2026, left, and host Melanie Winiger during the FIFA World Cup 2026 playoff draw in Zurich, Switzerland, Thursday, Nov. 20, 2025. (Claudio Thoma/Keystone via AP)

Canada could kick off its 2026 World Cup campaign against No. 66 Jordan, No. 68 Cabo Verde, No. 72 Ghana or No. 86 New Zealand. But the Canadian men could also face No. 12 Italy in their June 12 opener at Toronto’s BMO Field.

And Jesse Marsch’s team will face co-host Mexico in the round of 32 if both teams finish runner-up in their groups.

While the exact tournament pathway won’t be known until the Dec. 5 draw at the John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., FIFA released details of the draw procedure on Tuesday -- providing a hint at what could lie ahead.

The draw will flesh out the 12 groups at the expanded 48-team, 104-game soccer showcase with the three co-hosts assigned positions -- No. 15 Mexico in Group A, No. 27 Canada in Group B and the 14th-ranked United States in Group D.

The three co-hosts and the nine top-ranked teams will be placed in Pot A, with the remaining entries divided by descending ranking in Pot B, C and D.

But Pot D will also include six potentially higher-ranked teams that emerge from the FIFA Playoff Tournament and European playoff matches.

Four teams will come from the 16-country European playoff field, which includes No. 12 Italy, No. 21 Denmark, No. 25 Turkey, No. 28 Ukraine, No. 31 Poland, No. 32 Wales, No. 43 Sweden, No. 44 Czechia, No. 45 Slovakia, No. 47 Romania, No. 59 Ireland, No. 63 Albania, No. 65 North Macedonia, No. 69 Northern Ireland, No. 71 Bosnia-Herzegovina and No. 80 Kosovo.

Two more will come from the six-country playoff tournament that features No. 56 Congo DR, No. 58 Iraq, No. 70 Jamaica, No. 76 Bolivia, No. 123 Suriname and No. 149 New Caledonia.

Canada cannot face another team from CONCACAF in its opening group.

FIFA says the decision to put the playoff winners in Pot 4, which also includes No. 82 Curaçao and No. 84 Haiti, was made so as not to disadvantage teams that had already qualified in favour of sides that had to go the additional step of making the field.

Italy will have to get past Northern Ireland and then either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina to make the World Cup.

Under the draw procedures, Canada will open Group B play against the team drawn from Pot 4 before heading west to Vancouver, where it will face the team from Pot 3 on June 18 and then the side from Pot 2 on June 24.

A worst-case scenario could see Canada face No. 10 Croatia, No. 11 Morocco or No. 13 Colombia from Pot 2, No. 29 Norway or No. 34 Egypt from Pot 3 and No. 12 Italy or No. 21 Denmark from Pot 4.

On the plus side, no group can have more than two UEFA teams in it (although every pool will have at least one given they will be 16 UEFA teams).

The 12 group winners, 12 runners-up and eight best third-place teams advance to the knockout rounds.

The winner of Canada’s Group B will face a third-place team from Group E, F, G, I or J in the round of 32. The Group B runner-up will meet the second-place team in Mexico’s Group A.

The highest-ranked teams, No. 1 Spain and No. 2 Argentina, will be placed on different sides of the draw, as will No. 3 France and No. 4 England.

That means the top two teams, presuming they win their group, won’t meet until the final. Teams 1 and 2 can play either No. 3 and No. 4 in the semifinal presuming they all advance as group winners.

FIFA says the updated match schedule, assigning each match to a stadium with its respective kickoff time, will be released Dec. 6.

Canada, ranked 41st in the world at the time, was grouped with No. 2 Belgium, No. 12 Croatia and No. 22 Morocco at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The Canadians lost all three matches, outscored 7-2, and will be looking for their first win in their third trip to the tournament.

The Canada men went 0-3-0 in their first tournament appearance, outscored 5-0 in losses to France, Hungary and the Soviet Union in 1986 in Mexico.

World Cup Draw Pots

Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, U.S., 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, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, European Playoff A, B, C and D, FIFA Playoff Tournament 1 and 2.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 25, 2025.

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press