For the sixth consecutive occasion, Australia has qualified for the World Cup and is well-placed to get a kind group.
The Socceroos will be among 42 nations that find out their draw on Friday for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico — with six spots still to be determined by playoffs.
Will the green and gold have an opportunity to get through to the knockout stages, or are they going to feature in another “group of death”?
The Sporting News explains what pot Australia is in for the World Cup draw and what it means for the Socceroos.
MORE: Explaining the expanded World Cup bracket
Australia pot in World Cup draw
The Socceroos will be placed in Pot 2 for the 2026 World Cup draw.
It is the first time they have been in a pot higher than three or four since the 2010 World Cup.
Australia cannot face another nation from the same pot, meaning they avoid 11 nations ranked from 10-23, including Croatia, Colombia and Japan.
While they will get a nation from Pot 1 — which features the top seven teams in the world and the host nations — the Socceroos will also get drawn with a team from each of pot 3 and 4.
Even though there are some quality nations in those pots — including Norway, Scotland and Ivory Coast — Australia will be hoping for an easy group that gives them more chance of reaching the knockouts.
Pot 4 could also feature the likes of Italy, Denmark and Turkey, with those nations favoured to progress from their playoffs.
World Cup 2026 draw pots
The top 12 teams based on the FIFA Rankings go in Pot 1, the next best 12 teams in Pot 2, and so on.
It is also tradition that every host at each World Cup is ceremoniously placed in Pot 1, and pre-drawn into specific groups.
FIFA stated that all remaining to-be-determined qualifiers — the four from the March UEFA playoffs and the two to qualify from the intercontinental playoffs — will be in Pot 4 regardless of their world ranking.
Numbers in parentheses denote FIFA ranking
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| Canada* (27) | Croatia (10) | Norway (29) | Jordan (66) |
| Mexico* (15) | Morocco (11) | Panama (30) | Cape Verde (68) |
| USA* (14) | Colombia (13) | Egypt (34) | Ghana (72) |
| Spain (1) | Uruguay (16) | Algeria (35) | Curacao (82) |
| Argentina (2) | Switzerland (17) | Scotland (36) | Haiti (84) |
| France (3) | Japan (18) | Paraguay (39) | New Zealand (86) |
| England (4) | Senegal (19) | Tunisia (40) | UEFA playoff A |
| Brazil (5) | Iran (20) | Ivory Coast (42) | UEFA playoff B |
| Portugal (6) | South Korea (22) | Uzbekistan (50) | UEFA playoff C |
| Netherlands (7) | Ecuador (23) | Qatar (51) | UEFA playoff D |
| Belgium (8) | Austria (24) | Saudi Arabia (60) | Intercontinental playoff 1 |
| Germany (9) | Australia (26) | South Africa (61) | Intercontinental playoff 2 |
*Host nation
Teams in World Cup 2026 playoffs
The below teams are taking part in the World Cup playoffs next March and are therefore still in with a chance of qualifying for the finals.
| Nation | Confederation | FIFA rank | Playoff pathway |
| Italy | UEFA | 12 | UEFA Path A |
| Wales | UEFA | 32 | UEFA Path A |
| Northern Ireland | UEFA | 69 | UEFA Path A |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | UEFA | 71 | UEFA Path A |
| Ukraine | UEFA | 28 | UEFA Path B |
| Poland | UEFA | 31 | UEFA Path B |
| Sweden | UEFA | 43 | UEFA Path B |
| Albania | UEFA | 63 | UEFA Path B |
| Turkey | UEFA | 25 | UEFA Path C |
| Slovakia | UEFA | 45 | UEFA Path C |
| Romania | UEFA | 47 | UEFA Path C |
| Kosovo | UEFA | 80 | UEFA Path C |
| Denmark | UEFA | 21 | UEFA Path D |
| Czechia | UEFA | 44 | UEFA Path D |
| Republic of Ireland | UEFA | 59 | UEFA Path D |
| North Macedonia | UEFA | 65 | UEFA Path D |
| DR Congo | CAF | 56 | Intercontinental Path 1 |
| Jamaica | CONCACAF | 70 | Intercontinental Path 1 |
| New Caledonia | OFC | 149 | Intercontinental Path 1 |
| Iraq | AFC | 58 | Intercontinental Path 2 |
| Bolivia | CONMEBOL | 76 | Intercontinental Path 2 |
| Suriname | CONCACAF | 123 | Intercontinental Path 2 |
MORE: Fixture schedule, dates of UEFA playoffs | Fixture schedule, dates of intercontinental playoffs
How does the World Cup 2026 draw work?
For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a random draw will be conducted to determine the 12 groups, each consisting of four teams.
Each group consists of one team from each pot.
You can find a full breakdown of how the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will work here.
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