Colombia was confirmed Tuesday in Pot 2 for the 2026 FIFA World Cup final draw, a placement that guarantees the Tricolor will avoid facing fellow South American heavyweights in the group stage but leaves the door open to meeting major European powers or one of the tournament hosts.
The final draw is set for noon Eastern Dec. 5 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.; FIFA will publish a full match schedule with stadiums and kickoffs the following day, Dec. 6.
What are the World Cup Group Stage Pots?
FIFA divides the 48 teams that will play next summer into four “pots” of 12 teams each for the group draw. Pot 1 contains the three co-hosts (Canada, Mexico, and the United States) plus the nine highest-ranked nations; Pots 2 and 3 contain the next best teams by FIFA ranking; Pot 4 contains the lowest-ranked direct qualifiers plus the six teams that will emerge from March’s playoff tournaments.
The idea behind the arrangement is to spread stronger and weaker teams across all groups so that most groups contain one team from each pot.
“Seeds” refers to the teams given preferential placement at the top of the draw, which in the context of the World Cup means Pot 1. For 2026, FIFA has gone a step further. The four highest-ranked teams, Spain, Argentina, France, and England, will be placed in separate halves and quarters of the knockout bracket, so if they each win their groups, they cannot meet one another until the semifinals or final. That “tennis-style” separation is intended to protect the highest-ranked sides from meeting early.
The pots for the 2026 World Cup draw
Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, United States, 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, UEFA playoff qualifier A, B, C, D, Inter-confederation playoff qualifier 1, qualifier 2.
Colombia’s place in Pot 2 reflects its standing in FIFA’s Nov. 19 rankings (13th), the list FIFA used to compose the pots.
The Draw will take place on Dec. 5
The 2026 World Cup Draw will take place on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, at 12 p.m. EST, at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. The match schedule with stadium allocations and kickoff times will be released on Saturday, Dec. 6. Pot 1 teams will be drawn first into Groups A–L, followed by Pots 2, 3, and 4, in that order. Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. are in Pot 1 and will have pre-assigned group positions: Mexico will occupy A1; Canada, B1; and the United States, D1. The remaining nine Pot 1 teams will be assigned automatically to the Position 1 slot of the group into which they are drawn.
FIFA has also fixed which group positions correspond to which match sequence, meaning hosts and all qualified teams will know the order of their three group games once their group and position are drawn. For example, the U.S. will play Pot 3, then Pot 2, then Pot 4. Canada and Mexico likewise have set sequences. FIFA says the change speeds up the draw and balances match distribution.
No group may contain two teams from the same confederation, except UEFA (Europe). With 16 European qualifiers and only 12 groups, four groups will contain two European teams; the rest will contain one. The six playoff winners (four from UEFA playoffs; two from the inter-confederation playoff tournament) will all be placed in Pot 4.
What does the 2026 World Cup draw look like for Colombia?
Because Colombia is in Pot 2 of the 2026 World Cup Draw, each possible group will contain: One Pot 1 team, Colombia (Pot 2), one Pot 3 team, and one Pot 4 team. If Colombia wins its group (finishes first), Colombia would advance to the knockout phase (the expanded World Cup takes the top two from each group plus the eight best third-placed teams into a 32-team knockout).
Winning the group normally yields a more favorable Round of 32 pairing than finishing second, typically against a lower-placed team, which in this case would be one of the best third-placed teams or a lower-seeded runner-up, although the exact opponent depends on the group label (A–L) and the pre-set bracket slot that corresponds to that group.
Because FIFA will place the top four seeds in separate quadrants, a group-winning Colombia could avoid Spain/Argentina/France/England until the latter knockout rounds if the Tricolor is drawn into a pathway away from those teams, but that depends entirely on the group letter Colombia draws and which of the top seeds occupy the opposite quadrant.
The FIFA World Cup Pots have been CONFIRMED 🍿👀
Tune in December 5th on FOX to catch the entire 2026 FIFA World Cup Draw 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4cqeOw2Nna
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) November 25, 2025
A second-place finish still advances Colombia but typically pairs the team against a group winner in the Round of 32, often a stronger opponent and potentially an early test against one of the Pot 1 teams. In the 48-team format, finishing second therefore usually makes the route to the quarterfinals harder than winning the group.
What Colombia’s group could look like after the 2026 World Cup Draw
Favorable draw
Pot 1: Mexico
Pot 2: Colombia
Pot 3: Panama
Pot 4: New Zealand
Host nation Mexico provides a winnable top seed, as Colombia has won its last two matches against La Tri; Pot 3 and Pot 4 opponents are among the lower-ranked teams in their pots, giving Colombia a realistic path to top the group.
Balanced draw
Pot 1: Portugal
Pot 2: Colombia
Pot 3: Norway
Pot 4: Ghana
Colombia could very well draw a European heavyweight in Pot 1, and a strong Pot 3 opponent means Colombia must play close to its best, but the Pot 4 side would likely be the most beatable of the four.
Nightmare scenario
Pot 1: Spain
Pot 2: Colombia
Pot 3: Algeria
Pot 4: Italy (if it wins its playoff)
Spain is the world’s top-ranked side; a strong Pot 3 team and a high-quality European playoff winner could make this effectively the “group of death.” FIFA’s decision to place playoff winners in Pot 4 creates the possibility that traditionally strong nations that reach the World Cup via playoffs could appear alongside mid-level teams such as Colombia.