2026 World Cup draw: Where to watch, when is it and what are the rules?

Whilst Italy are still yet to qualify for next year’s World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, the Azzurri will still find out their possible opponents for the group stage on Friday.

Friday December 5 will see the draw take place in the USA, with the likes of Donald Trump, Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky and Shaquille O’Neal amongst the famous faces set to be involved with the draw.

There are four European spots left to be confirmed at the competition, with Italy amongst the teams vying for one of the places.

The Azzurri are preparing for what is expected to be a tricky play-off path in March, that sees Gennaro Gattuso’s side face Northern Ireland in the semi-final before facing either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final.

The draw is set to commence at 17:00 GMT on Friday, with the first names expected to be drawn closer to 18:00.

The World Cup draw will be available to watch for free online on FIFA’s digital platforms, whilst broadcasters around the world will also be showing the draw.

In the US, viewers can watch on FOX, in the UK it will be shown on ITVX, in Canada on TSN1 and in Australia on SBS.

With the draw, the countdown officially begins to the next edition of the World Cup and Italy will be hopeful they can qualify.

The play-off winners have all been placed into pot four for the draw by FIFA, meaning that the Azzurri will effectively be lowest seeds if qualification is achieved. Therefore, the World Cup draw is not likely to be kind to Italy and could see them face off against top nations in the group stage.