On Friday, December 5th, FIFAhosted the World Cup draw in Washington DC. The event took place to determine what groups the teams that had qualified for the World Cup would be in; in total there were 12 groups of four teams. Sports legends such as Tom Brady, Shaquille Oniel, and Wayne Gretzky took part in helping with the draw.

The World Cup, which begins on June 11,2026, features a new format with 48 teams rather than the traditional 32 from previous years. The top two teams from each group automatically qualify for the knockout rounds, and of the teams that placed 3rd in the group, the eight with the most points advance to the next round, whereas the other four are eliminated. 

Another change to the World Cup is that the best ranked teams going into the tournament are not paired with each other in the groups. Each team is designated a pot, with pot one being the 12 best teams and pot four being the worst 12 teams. This is done to avoid heavyweight clashes in the group stage and save them for the later round of the knockout rounds.

The draw also brought excitement to students at RCHS. Junior Alan Garcia described how he likes the draw because it means the better teams won’t play each other in the group stage. 

“I like how the new draw works, it is always exciting to see good teams play each other in the later knockout rounds, so those matchups will be exciting to see. I also like it because I want Mexico to win and they have an easier group which they should get out of” Garcia said.

For more information on the World Cup draw, visit fifa.com to see the draw and group stage matchup.