Paraguay has been placed in Pot 3 for the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw, as confirmed by FIFA’s latest seeding announcement. The South American nation, having secured qualification through CONMEBOL, joins a competitive group of mid-tier ranked teams, potentially setting up intriguing group-stage clashes with powerhouses from Pot 1.
The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has unveiled the detailed procedure for the final draw of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the first edition to feature 48 teams and co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. After 16 long years of waiting for another chance, the Albirroja will be returning to the World Cup, after a 0-0 draw against Ecuador in Asunción before an audience of 42,000 people at the Defensores del Chaco Stadium.
Draw date and venue
The eagerly awaited draw is scheduled for Friday, 5 December 2025, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Representatives from all qualified teams, including coaches and managers, will convene for this important event, which will reveal the group-stage matchups and pathways to the final on Sunday, 19 July 2026, at MetLife Stadium in New York/New Jersey.
The comprehensive match schedule, encompassing stadium venues and kick-off times, will follow on Saturday, 6 December.
Pot allocation and host nation seeding
Teams are distributed across four pots of 12, guided by the FIFA World Ranking from 19 November 2025. The host nations – Canada, Mexico, and the United States – anchor Pot 1 with the top nine ranked qualifiers.
- 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, Republic of 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, plus placeholders for teams 1 and 2 from the intercontinental qualifying tournament and teams A, B, C, and D from the European qualifiers.
Host nation positions and coloured balls
Reflecting the match schedule from February 2024, host nations will be drawn via coloured balls:
- Mexico – green ball, fixed at position A1
- Canada – red ball, fixed at position B1
- United States – blue ball, fixed at position D1
The other nine Pot 1 teams will use uniform balls and slot into position 1 of their drawn group.
Competitive balance measures
To foster equilibrium through to the semi-finals, two distinct brackets are in play. The top-ranked teams – Spain (1) and Argentina (2) – will be randomly placed in opposing halves, mirrored for France (3) and England (4). Thus, if these seeds top their groups, encounters among them would be delayed until the final.
Confederation restrictions
Groups will avoid multiple teams from the same confederation, barring UEFA’s 16 entrants, which will see one or two per group. Teams from Pots 2–4 will adhere to a predefined positional matrix, ensuring even distribution of strengths as per the draw procedure document.
With Paraguay’s Pot 3 placement now set, anticipation builds for the 5 December ceremony.
