Official: Italy learn potential 2026 World Cup opponents

The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America is now complete, and Italy have learned that they will be in a group with Canada, Qatar and Switzerland should they qualify for the final tournament.

The 2026 World Cup group stage draw took place in Washington, D.C. on Friday evening, in an eventful ceremony that brought appearances from President Donald Trump, FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and musical performances from Andrea Bocelli, Robbie Williams, Nicole Scherzinger, Lauryn Hill and the Village People. 

You can see how the ceremony unfolded on the Football Italia Liveblog. 

Should Italy qualify for the final World Cup tournament, they will be in Group B along with Canada, Qatar and Switzerland.

Italy still have a long way to go before they secure a spot at the World Cup, though. The Azzurri finished second behind Norway in Group I of UEFA’s World Cup qualifying system, which means that they have had to settle for a spot in the play-offs for the third cycle in a row.

Gennaro Gattuso’s side will host Northern Ireland in a single-legged play-off semi-final on March 26, and the winner of that tie will go on to play away against either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina on March 31 for a place at the World Cup. This is known as ‘pathway A’.

All teams that are involved in the World Cup play-offs went into pot 4 for Friday’s group stage draw. Aside from the three host nations, all of whom went directly into Pot A, every other team’s seeding was determined by their current world ranking. Had Italy qualified directly for the final tournament, they would have been in Pot B.

Group A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, winner European play-off route D.

Group B: Canada, European play-off route A, Qatar, Switzerland.

Group C: Brazil, Morocco, Haiti, Scotland.

Group D: USA, Paraguay, Australia, winner of European play-off route C.

Group E: Germany, Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador.

Group F: Netherlands, Japan, winner of European play-off route B, Tunisia.

Group G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand.

Group H: Spain. Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay.

Group I: France, Senegal, winner of interconfederation play-off 2, Norway.

Group J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan.

Group K: Portugal, winner of interconfederation play-off 1, Uzbekistan, Colombia.

Group L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama