⚽ Draw begins in Washington DC at 5pm GMT / 12pm local
⚽ Draw explainer | Qualifiers | Follow on Bluesky | Mail John
Lunchtime listening: Jonathan Liew on the political hue of next summer.
The technicalities are here, as picked through by Tom Lutz.
The 48 teams have been divided into four pots containing 12 teams each. Pot 1 consists of the three co-hosts – USA, Mexico and Canada – along with the nine top teams in the current Fifa rankings. The next three pots were decided by the Fifa rankings, with the lowest-ranked qualified teams in Pot 4. The 12 groups for the World Cup will then be formed by one team from each pot (full pots listed later).
