Khaberni - The national football team is now a candidate to be in the fourth tier during the draw for the 2026 World Cup finals, which will take place on December 5th.
This candidacy is based on the team's current ranking in the FIFA World Rankings and compared with the teams that have officially qualified for the World Cup or those that have a significant advantage in securing their spots. The Al-Nashama team occupies a relatively lower position among the qualifying or nearly qualifying teams, which reduces its chances of advancing to the third tier unless the upcoming rounds of the qualifiers witness very significant changes in results and world rankings, according to Al-Ghad newspaper.
The team hopes to improve its results in the upcoming period to raise its world ranking before the date of the draw, especially since most of the teams that have qualified for the finals are ranked higher than it. So far, 28 countries have secured their places in the finals, among them the three host countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico, alongside teams from various continents, with qualifiers from Asia including Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Iran, Japan, South Korea, and Uzbekistan, from Africa Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Cape Verde, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and South Africa, from South America Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Uruguay, from Oceania New Zealand, and from Europe England, with the remaining twenty spots to be decided later, including two through the intercontinental play-offs in March 2026.
The following is the ranking of national teams from highest to lowest according to the latest FIFA ranking issued on the seventeenth of this month: Argentina (2), England (4), Brazil (7), Morocco (12), Colombia (13), Uruguay (15), the United States (16), Senegal (18), Japan (19), Iran (21), South Korea (22), Ecuador (23), Australia (25), Canada (28), Egypt (32), Algeria (35), Paraguay (39), Tunisia (43), Ivory Coast (42).
FIFA has announced that the World Cup draw will be held on December 5th, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., where the group stage lineups for the largest edition in the history of the tournament will be clarified.
The draw starts at twelve noon Washington time, and it will be broadcast live around the world through FIFA's official media partners. The 48 teams will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each, with each team being drawn from four ranking pots, with the United States, Canada, and Mexico placed in the first pot alongside the top-ranked teams, ensuring that no two teams from the same confederation, except for Europe, which allows a maximum of two teams, are in the same group.
The top two teams from each group will directly advance to the round of 32, along with the best eight teams that finish third, ranked by points, then goal difference, followed by goals scored, and finally disciplinary conduct.
The group stage matches will take place between June 11 and 27, 2026, followed by the round of 32 between June 28 and July 3, then the round of 16 between July 4 and 7, the quarterfinals between July 9 and 11, the semifinals on July 14 and 15, the third-place match on July 18, and the final on July 19.
