From the US fate to the group of death, here are 5 takeaways from the World Cup draw

The 42 teams that have qualified so far for next year's FIFA World Cup now know who they'll face in the initial phase of the tournament taking place across the U.S., Canada and Mexico next year.
That's after the draw for the men's flagship soccer tournament was held on a cold, wintry day at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

And it yielded interesting matchups, including Spain versus Uruguay, England versus Croatia, and France against Senegal, a contest with an interesting history given the African country famously beat the European powerhouse at the 2002 World Cup.

Then there are the hosts. The U.S., for example, will open the tournament with a match-up against Paraguay in Los Angeles, and will also face Australia and a yet-to-be-determined European rival.
As has been typical in recent draws, the ceremony attracted a slew of celebrities, including tenor Andrea Bocelli, as well as older and younger superstar athletes from both the soccer world and the host nations, including retired American quarterback Tom Brady.

And the event attracted controversy, too. As widely expected, President Trump received FIFA's first "Peace Prize," given "on behalf of football-loving people from all around the world" — though no fan ever voted for such an award.

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Here are five things to know about the World Cup draw.

What was the draw for?

In short, it was to determine which teams will make up the 12 groups of four that mark the opening stage — or the group stage — of the World Cup.

The tournament has never been this big before — with 48 teams taking part, up from the 32 that participated at the last World Cup in Qatar in 2022.

Not all teams that will take part in the 2026 World Cup are known, though. So far, 42 countries have qualified, with the remaining six — including Italy — set to compete in playoffs next March to determine the final list of participants.

And teams still do not know the locations and kickoff times for the games set to be held across all 16 host cities. That will be determined on Saturday, at a separate event.

So what did the draw look like?

In a World Cup of 48 teams, it predictably led to pretty stark contrasts, with a soccer powerhouse such as Spain set to face debutant Cape Verde — or a matchup between Germany and Curaçao, the smallest country to ever qualify for the World Cup with a population of just over 150,000.

There will also be other matches that will likely draw attention, including Portugal with aging star Cristiano Ronaldo set to face off against Colombia, the finalist at the regional Copa America last year.

The top two sides of each of the 12 groups will automatically qualify. But even finishing third in a four-team group can ensure qualification: in fact, the eight-best third-placed teams will advance.

Is there a group of death? What about some of the favorites?

Just like in any tournament, one of the biggest talking points will become which group will be perceived as the "Group of Death," the moniker given to the group perceived to be the most difficult in a tournament.

There are a couple candidates this time around. Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia and whoever emerges from a playoff involving Ukraine, Poland, Albania, or Sweden could be one such group.

The other could very well be the one made up by England, Croatia, Ghana and Panama — or the one made up by France, Senegal, Norway and whoever emerges from the playoffs involving Bolivia, Iraq and Suriname.

But some of the favorites will face much lower-ranked teams in the group stage. That's the case for Argentina, which will face Algeria, Austria and World Cup debutant Jordan.

Top-ranked Spain, meanwhile, will face a tough opponent in 16th-ranked Uruguay but also 60th-ranked Saudi Arabia and tournament newbie Cape Verde.

What does the path look like for the hosts?

The United States and Mexico mostly avoid particularly high-ranked teams. Canada faces a tougher time.

The U.S., for example, ranked 14th will face 39th-ranked Paraguay in its opening game, as well as 26th-ranked Australia, and whoever emerges from a playoff involving Slovakia, Kosovo, Turkey or Romania.

Meanwhile, Mexico will face lower-ranked teams in South Africa, South Korea and a yet-to-be-determined European team.

Canada faces the potentially tougher path, set to face Qatar, but also higher-ranked Switzerland and potentially Italy, which will be in a playoff involving Bosnia and Herzegovina, Wales and Northern Ireland.

And why did President Trump receive a peace prize?

It's not quite clear — but one thing's for sure, it ensured that the draw wasn't all about sports.

Politics have typically been kept offstage at FIFA's World Cup draw ceremonies given the organization's long-held rules about staying politically neutral.

But on Friday, FIFA president Gianni Infantino presented Trump with the first-ever Peace Prize, crediting him with ending a number of wars and conflicts (something the U.S. president likes to boast about, though the evidence is less clear.)

Infantino and FIFA have justified the award, which it unveiled for the first time on Friday, as intended to acknowledge "exceptional actions for peace and unity."

But the award sparked criticism from some soccer fan groups and was seen by many of these critics as another step in Infantino's persistent and controversial courtship of President Trump, which FIFA's leader has justified as needed to ensure the successful staging of the World Cup.

The World Cup runs from June 11 through July 19, 2026.

NPR sports correspondent Becky Sullivan contributed to this report.