The top seed in Group D, the Americans welcomed Australia and Paraguay — manageable foes that they defeated in home friendlies this fall — and the winner of a March playoff between Türkiye, Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo.

Fox Sports analyst Alexi Lalas called the USMNT draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup "great". And though a lot can change and weird stuff can happen when they actually play the games, Friday could not have gone much better for American soccer.

Jesse Marsch will lead Canada at the 2026 World Cup that will be played on their home soil. A lot will depend on who will qualify in the last spot of the group. If Italy do, things will be much more difficult for Canada.

When it comes to the 2026 World Cup draw, the No. 1 winner is the United States men's national team, and there's a distance between the USMNT and Winner No. 2.

World Cup draws have always been a dramatic part of soccer's tapestry. This one could go a lot of ways for the U.S. team, and for fans in Philadelphia waiting to see which teams will come to town.

Having automatically qualified as a host nation, the U.S. was helpfully put in Pot 1 of the draw, meaning that it will avoid most of the big-name soccer nations of Europe and South America that are quadrennial threats to hoist the trophy.

The USMNT punched their ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup as co-hosts alongside Canada and Mexico, automatically qualifying for the tournament and seeding in Pot 1, ensuring no group-stage matchups against the world’s top-ranked nations.

Hello and welcome to our coverage of the 2026 World Cup draw which is taking place in the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington. And in a very rare moment all of the British and Irish nations have vested interest in this.