The draw ceremony for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., on December 5 at 19:00 Kyiv time, FIFA has announced. Ukraine, along with the other UEFA playoff contenders, has been placed in Pot 4.

Under the UEFA playoff bracket, Ukraine is set to compete on Path B, opening with a home semifinal match against Sweden on March 26. Should Ukraine prevail, the team will play the winner of Poland vs. Albania on March 31, with a World Cup ticket on the line.

The winners of the European playoffs will join Pot 4 alongside Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, and the winners of the Intercontinental Playoffs.

According to FIFA regulations, no group may include more than one team from the same confederation, except for UEFA, which can have up to two representatives. Additionally, the highest-ranked teams—Spain and Argentina—will be placed in separate pathways to ensure they cannot meet in the final, provided both win their groups. The same rule applies to the teams ranked third and fourth, France and England, which will also be kept apart in the bracket.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first edition to feature 48 national teams, expanding the scale of the tournament. Matches will be hosted across 16 cities:

Canada – Toronto, Vancouver

Mexico – Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey

United States – Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle

The World Cup will kick off on June 11, 2026, with the opening match in Mexico City, while the grand final is scheduled for July 19, hosted by New York.