A week and a half before the draw for the groups for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada, Switzerland know eleven opponents they will not face in the preliminary round.
25.11.2025, 19:05
25.11.2025, 19:08
SDA
Switzerland has been placed in Pot 2 for the draw on December 5 (18:00 Swiss time) in Washington D.C. Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Australia and Austria are also in the second strongest of four pots.
In addition to the hosts, defending champions Argentina, European champions Spain, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany form the group headers. There are also potentially strong contenders in pots 3 and 4, such as Erling Haaland's Norway (pot 3) or Italy, who are aiming to qualify for the tournament via the play-offs in March.
The placeholders for the winners of the play-off tournaments have been allocated to the Top 4. The other 39 teams that qualified were seeded for the draw based on their position in the latest FIFA World Ranking.
On December 5, the teams will be divided into twelve groups (A to L), with the teams from the first pot being drawn first, followed by pot 2, pot 3 and pot 4. Only one team from each continental association is allowed in each group, with the exception of UEFA, which can field a maximum of two teams per group.
One innovation is that the top seeds Argentina and Spain, if they win the group, will play each other in the final at the earliest. Matches with France and England, the third and fourth seeds, are only possible in the semi-finals if these teams also top their groups. This has no impact on Switzerland's tournament path as the world number 17.
