Recent events in the country have sparked questions about security and organization ahead of the global event. As preparations continue, FIFA has remained in close contact with Mexican authorities while monitoring the situation.

In an interview conducted in Spanish with the Colombian Football Federation, Gianni Infantino addressed the matter directly and made FIFA’s position clear. “First of all, of course we are analyzing and monitoring the situation in Mexico at this time,” he said. “But from the beginning, we have full confidence in Mexico, in its President Sheinbaum, and in the authorities. We are convinced that everything will go in the best possible way.”

Infantino added that Mexico is a great soccer nation and that challenges happen everywhere in the world. “We don’t live on the moon or on another planet — things happen,” he said. “That’s why we have states, police forces, and authorities who guarantee order and security. From my side and from FIFA, there is absolute confidence in President Sheinbaum in Mexico. We are in regular contact with the presidency and the authorities, and we continue to follow the situation closely.”

Confidence in Mexican leadership

The FIFA president emphasized that the organization remains in constant communication with President Claudia Sheinbaum and national officials. He reiterated that upcoming World Cup playoff matches in Mexico will proceed as planned, at a time when Mexico’s president has also recently clarified Guadalajara’s status as a 2026 World Cup venue.

Mexico’s central role in 2026

Mexico will host key fixtures during the 2026 World Cup cycle, and the reopening of Estadio Azteca stands as a symbolic milestone in the country’s preparations. With FIFA publicly backing Mexican authorities, organizational efforts continue as the tournament draws closer.

Teams are divided into four pots based mainly on the FIFA World Ranking as of November 19, 2025. Pot 1 includes the three host nations—Canada, Mexico, and the United States—plus the nine highest-ranked qualified teams. Pots 2 through 4 group the rest of the nations to create balanced and competitive matchups.

Most teams have already qualified, leaving only six spots undecided at the time of the draw: four UEFA playoff winners and two inter-confederation playoff winners. These teams will be placed in Pot 4 once the playoffs finish in March 2026.

How will the 2026 World Cup draw affect team paths?

The tournament divides teams into four pots, each containing twelve nations. Pot 1 has the three co-hosts—Mexico, Canada, and the United States—plus Spain, Argentina, France, England, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.

Pot 2 includes strong teams like Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, South Korea, Ecuador, Austria, and Australia. These nations provide solid competition against Pot 1 teams.

Pot 3 mixes emerging soccer nations with consistent performers, such as Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.

Pot 4 has lower-ranked and playoff teams: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, the four UEFA playoff winners (A–D), and the two inter-confederation playoff winners, whose identities will be confirmed in March 2026.

Each group will have one team from each pot to keep the competition balanced. Hosts are already assigned to Groups A (Mexico), B (Canada), and D (United States), while the other Pot 1 teams will fill the remaining nine groups. FIFA rules prevent teams from the same confederation from being in the same group, except for UEFA, which can have up to two European teams per group because of 16 European qualifiers.

Why pot allocations matter

Teams in Pot 1 usually face easier opponents from Pots 2–4 and benefit from host advantages and pre-determined group placement. Pot 4 teams are likely to face tough competition from the higher-ranked teams, making their path to the knockout rounds more challenging. The pot system ensures groups are competitive but fair.

When does the group stage begin?

After the draw on December 5, 2025, the group stage will start on June 11, 2026, and end on June 27, 2026. The tournament will conclude with the final at MetLife Stadium on July 19, 2026, after the Round of 32 and knockout rounds determine the champion.

With this qualification, Cristiano Ronaldo is set to participate in his sixth World Cup, which will take place in North America. His most memorable campaign among those six appearances was in 2006, when he played a crucial role alongside the likes of Figo, Maniche, and other stars to guide Portugal to the semifinals.

The current record for the most World Cup appearances is actually co-held by Ronaldo, along with other legends like Lionel Messi, Guillermo Ochoa, and Andres Guardado from Mexico, each boasting five appearances on football’s grandest stage.

Ronaldo and Messi are on the brink of making history as the only players to participate in six World Cups, further cementing their legacies in the sport. They are also at the forefront of the all-time goal-scoring charts.

Ronaldo eyes more World Cup records

With Ronaldo’s confirmed participation in the upcoming World Cup, he sets his sights on breaking yet another record. He is just two goals away from surpassing Portuguese legend Eusebio’s record of eight World Cup goals, aiming to become Portugal’s top scorer in World Cup history.

Additionally, depending on Portugal’s progress in the tournament, Ronaldo could equal or exceed Germany’s Lothar Matthaus for the second most World Cup matches played. The iconic German appeared in 25 matches, while Ronaldo currently stands at 22.

Messi holds the record with 26 World Cup matches played, and he has the potential to extend this milestone depending on Argentina’s campaign, as they have also secured their place in the next World Cup.

The winningest country in the history of that tournament was supposed to reach at least the semifinals. Particularly their destroying 4-1 win over South Korea in the round of 16 was a proof they may live up to the hype. Unfortunately for them, they found out it wasn’t going to be that way.

The opponent in the quarterfinals was Croatia following their victory over Japan in the penalty shootout. It was a 0-0 tie in the regulation with Brazil even having the advantage of scoring first in overtime through Neymar. But a late goal by the Croatians sent them to the penalties, where they defeated the Brazilians.

The 2023 schedule of Brazil national soccer team

This could be an important year for them because of that upset loss. The way too early elimination made Tite step aside from Brazil. They aimed to the sky with the potential replacements since they have enough players to allure any head coach, although they haven’t gotten anyone yet.

The postponement of the CONMEBOL qualifiers beginning is definitely something favorable for the Brazilians. The South American tournament was scheduled to start in March, but it was moved forward to June.

They will kick off the season with two friendly games as every nation in the region. Their distinction of being the only national team that played in every World Cup means they don’t have to worry about their spot in the next one. Having a huge margin for error in that regard helps them to be patient in their coaching search.

Brazil national soccer team schedule: List of games in 2023

March 25: Morocco vs Brazil in Tangier, international friendly game.
Brazil will only play one friendly game in this window. The interim coach will be Ramón Menezes while they continue their search. He led the U20 team to the title in the South American championship that took place in January.

June:Internationalfriendly games,twomatchups.
September:Brazil vs Bolivia.Matchday 1 of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
September: Peru vs Brazil. Matchday 2of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
October: Brazil vs Venezuela.Matchday 3of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
October: Uruguay vs Brazil. Matchday 4of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
November: Colombia vs Brazil.Matchday 5of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
November: Brazil vs Argentina. Matchday 6of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.

Qatar wasn’t as favorable as they were expecting despite opening the right way. The 2-0 win they got against the host country was the main step, although they couldn’t keep up the results. They played a decentgame vs the Netherlands getting only a 1-1 that meant the clash with Senegal was going to decide their faith.

The Ecuadorians just needed a tie to finish in the second-place of group A. Unfortunately they didn’t get it done since they lost 2-1. Their elimination shouldn’t erase how competitive they have been lately.

The 2023 schedule of Ecuador national soccer team

The base for this nation to be in the World Cup has always been their home performances. That’s were they get the most out of their players, so that must continue. But there is no doubt that it may take some time to adapt to their new head coach.

The exit in Qatar also had Argentinian Gustavo Alfaro leaving his position after a successful run. Although there is a bit of uncertainty because they haven’t named a replacement yet. In that regard they may be the most benefited team with the postponement of the qualifiers.

CONMEBOL had March as the time to begin the tournament that will send its representatives to the World Cup, ultimately changing it to June. It’s a helpful decision for Ecuador since they can use the next FIFA window to play international friendly games. At least there will be two more spots than usual to the main event.

Ecuador national soccer team schedule: List of games in 2023

March 20:Australia vs Ecuador in Australia. International friendly game.
March28:Australia vs Ecuador in Australia. International friendly game.
June:Internationalfriendly games,twomatchups.
September: Argentina vs Ecuador.Matchday 1 of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
September: Ecuador vs Uruguay. Matchday 2of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
October: Bolivia vs Ecuador.Matchday 3of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
October: Ecuador vs Colombia. Matchday 4of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
November: Venezuela vs Ecuador.Matchday 5of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
November: Ecuador vs Chile. Matchday 6of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.

Gareca also took the team one step away of being in the most recent event as well. The Peruvians weren’t able to secure a spot in Qatar for an minimal margin. They finished two points behind Ecuador in the fourth place that would have meant a direct place, although they ended fifth just over Colombia.

Their positioning had them in a playoff game to decide everything. The opponent was Australia in a winner-takes-all match. Unfortunately a penalty shootout loss following a 0-0 tie determined they were eliminated.

The 2023 schedule of Peru national soccer team

The national team has been under Juan Reynoso since last year. His hiring came in August after Gareca’s exit, but the real games will start this year. He had the chance to begin meeting the players in some friendly matchups.

It was a decision that made them go back to a local coach. Reynoso is a former captain of Peru, so he knows very well where he is at. Although there is no doubt it will be a complicated task to continue their recent favorable journey.

There will be more time until the South American qualifiers to prepare the roster the best way. They were supposed to start in March, but CONMEBOL decided to postpone them for a bit. June is the month where the tournament will begin.

Peru national soccer team schedule: List of games in 2023

March 25: Germany vs Peru, MEWA Arena, Mainz. Friendly game.
March 28: Peru vs Morocco, Madrid, Spain. Friendly game.
June:Internationalfriendly games,twomatchups.
September: Paraguay vs Peru.Matchday 1 of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
September: Peru vs Brazil. Matchday 2of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
October: Chile vs Peru.Matchday 3of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
October: Peru vs Argentina. Matchday 4of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
November: Bolivia vs Peru.Matchday 5of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
November: Peru vs Venezuela. Matchday 6 of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.

The weight was a lot on Argentinian players in November/December of 2022 in Qatar. Waiting 36 years for a team with such quality rosters on every World Cup was way too much, but luckily for them it is now behind for how they played.

The nail-biting final vs France at Lusail Stadium will be repeated for ages in Argentina, although there is excitement to watch the team compete again after their historic achievement. It’s time to continue celebrating with the fans at home with games instead of just victory parades with millions of people cheering.

The 2023 schedule of Argentina national soccer team

In the last couple of years there were plenty of opportunities for the team to lift a trophy. The long-awaited image of Messi winning with Argentina finally arrived in the 2021 Copa America. That was followed by the Finalissima vs Italy at Wembley in 2022. It was then repeated at the World Cup later in the year.

The schedule this time doesn’t present any crown at stake for them. Argentina will have friendly games to begin their year. These matchups will serve as the chance for the players to celebrate in front of the fans against rivals of inferior level.

Then it will be the start of the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. The tournament to be played in the United States, Mexico, and Canada will have 48 teams instead of 32. So the path should be even easier than it used to be for the South American countries.

Argentina national team schedule: List of games in 2023

March 23: Argentina vs Panama at Estadio Monumental, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. International friendly game.
March28:Argentina vs Curacao at Estadio Único Madre de Ciudades, inSantiago del Estero, Argentina. International friendly game.
June:Internationalfriendly games,twomatchups.
September:Argentina vs Ecuador. Matchday 1 of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
September: Bolivia vs Argentina. Matchday 2of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
October:Argentina vs Paraguay. Matchday 3of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
October: Peru vs Argentina. Matchday 4of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
November:Argentina vs Uruguay. Matchday 5of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.
November: Brazil vs Argentina. Matchday 6of the CONMEBOL qualifiers.