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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Oli Gent

When will the World Cup 2026 fixture schedule be confirmed?

World Cup 2026 group stage draw in full - (Getty Images)

The World Cup draw has taken place, but there is still a wait for the entire fixture schedule for the 2026 tournament to be confirmed.

The draw for the group stages was held in Washington, D.C., on December 5, where FIFA president Gianni Infantino hosted star-studded ceremony, in which US president Donald Trump was awarded the inaugural FIFA Peace Prize.

England have been drawn against Croatia, Ghana and Panama in Group L for next summer's World Cup finals in North America.

Scotland have been drawn against five-time world champions Brazil and 2022 semi-finalists Morocco, as well as Haiti, in Group C.

When will World Cup 2026 fixture schedule be confirmed?

The tournament - newly expanded next year - will have 104 matches played across the tournament, and FIFA need to confirm all the logistics before publishing on Saturday, December 6.

FIFA have outlined their ‘match allocation process’ on their website, where dates and kick-off times for the group-stage games will be finalised.

There are still teams left to qualify, however, with the inter-confederation play-offs set to take place in Mexico in March.

FIFA has confirmed that a final match schedule will be released following the conclusion of those play-offs next year, where two final teams will qualify for the tournament.

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