When will the 2026 World Cup schedule be released?

The draw for the 2026 World Cup is happening in Washington DC on Friday, December 5 but the full schedule for the tournament will be released at a different time.

FIFA have released plenty of details about the draw and here’s how it will all work.

MORE — Watch 2026 World Cup live with Pro Soccer Talk

42 out of the 48 teams have confirmed their spot at the 2026 World Cup next summer, with games held across the USA, Mexico and Canada and the three hosts already know where they will play their group stage games. But where will everyone else play, and when?

MORE — 2026 World Cup draw preview

Here are all the details you need to know.

How to watch the 2026 World Cup live, stream

The 2026 World Cup draw starts at 12pm ET on Friday, December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

You can watch the draw live en Espanol on Telemundo and on Peacock here, while the Pro Soccer Talk crew will be hosting a live Watchalong show to break down the draw as it’s happening, here.

When will the 2026 World Cup schedule be released?

It has been confirmed by FIFA that even though we will know which teams are in each of the 12 groups, we will not know where they are playing until Saturday, December 6. Why? Here's the explanation from FIFA:

"While the Final Draw will determine which teams play each other in the group stage, the updated match schedule, including the stadium assigned to each match and the respective kick-off time, will be confirmed on Saturday, 6 December.

"The match allocation process that follows the draw aims to ensure the best possible conditions for all teams while, where possible, enabling fans all over the world to watch their teams play live across different time zones."

So, basically, after the groups are drawn FIFA will then place the games in the best location possible when it comes timezones.

Therefore teams from Asia and Europe will likely play earlier in the day and be based on the East Coast, while teams from North, Central and South America will play in the later games and that probably means they will be based on the West Coast for the group stage.