World Cup 2026 draw: England find out their opponents

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The World Cup 2026 draw sees England drawn in Group L

World Cup 2026 draw: Thomas Tuchel, Head Coach of England, pose on the red carpet prior to the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Draw at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on December 05, 2025 in Washington, DC.
Thomas Tuchel at the World Cup draw (Image credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The World Cup 2026 draw has seen England find out their opponents for the tournament next summer.

Having gotten to World Cup 2026 without so much as dropping a point during qualification, England head to North America as one of the favourites for the trophy, hoping to end 60 years of hurt.

England discover their opponents in the World Cup 2026 draw

RIGA, LATVIA - OCTOBER 14: Morgan Rogers, Harry Kane and Anthony Gordon of England celebrate their team's fourth goal, an own goal scored by Maksims Tonisevs of Latvia (not pictured) during the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier match between Latvia and England at Daugava Stadium on October 14, 2025 in Riga, Latvia. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

England celebrate scoring against Latvia (Image credit: Getty Images)

With 48 teams in the next edition of the World Cup, this is set to be the biggest-ever tournament, with 12 groups of four teams.

The top two sides in each group will be heading through – as per usual – to the Round of 32, along with eight third-placed sides.

As one of the sides in Pot 1, England have been drawn into Group L, where they will be facing Croatia, Panama and Ghana.

England, of course, lost to Croatia in the World Cup 2018 semi-final, where the Croatians came from behind to beat the Three Lions 2-1, cancelling out Kieran Trippier's free-kick – but England have beaten Croatia in tournament football since, beating them 1-0 at Euro 2020 at Wembley.

Panama, meanwhile, also played England at World Cup 2018, with Harry Kane scoring a hat-trick in a 6-1 win in Russia.

Ghana, meanwhile, have not qualified for AFCON and were in Pot 4.

If England win their group, they will play a third-placed team in the Round of 32.

The official balls for the draw are seen on stage at the Kennedy Center ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026 Official Draw on December 03, 2025 in Washington, DC.

The World Cup draw has been made (Image credit: Michael Regan - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

Should the Three Lions then get to the Round of 16, they could well face South Korea or hosts Mexico.

Scotland have also found out their group stage opponents, as they take on Brazil, Morocco and Haiti.

Mark White
Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White has been at on FourFourTwo since joining in January 2020, first as a staff writer before becoming content editor in 2023. An encyclopedia of football shirts and boots knowledge – both past and present – Mark has also represented FFT at both FA Cup and League Cup finals (though didn't receive a winners' medal on either occasion) and has written pieces for the mag ranging on subjects from Bobby Robson's season at Barcelona to Robinho's career. He has written cover features for the mag on Mikel Arteta and Martin Odegaard, and is assisted by his cat, Rosie, who has interned for the brand since lockdown.

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