The German national team has not only qualified for the 2026 World Cup, but is also seeded in the draw. This means that some possible – and some excluded – group opponents have already been determined.
With a 6-0 victory over Slovakia on Monday, the German national team achieved both of its stated goals: it qualified for the 2026 World Cup and will be one of twelve seeded teams in the draw on December 5 in Washington, D.C.
In the new FIFA world rankings, which will be published on Wednesday, Germany will once again be among the top nine nations. Like the three hosts, the USA, Mexico, and Canada, these nations will each form a group head – and will therefore avoid each other in the World Cup preliminary round.
Pot 1 is complete
This means that eleven nations are already ruled out as Germany’s group opponents: the USA, Mexico, Canada, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Belgium. They will all be in Pot 1 for the draw and will only be possible opponents for Germany in the round of 32 of the XXL World Cup at the earliest.
The teams that will definitely be in Pot 2 and could therefore face Germany in the preliminary round include Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Japan, Uruguay, Senegal, Iran, and South Korea. Italy could also be a potential Pot 2 opponent if the Squadra Azzurra qualifies for the World Cup via the play-offs and FIFA does not place all of the placeholders for the six teams still missing from the draw in Pot 4, but instead ranks them according to who has the highest world ranking points in each play-off path.
Pot 3 will include Norway with Erling Haaland, Egypt, Scotland, Paraguay, and Ivory Coast, while Pot 4 will include New Zealand, Ghana, Haiti, and World Cup newcomers Cape Verde, Curacao, and Jordan. FIFA is expected to announce the exact pot allocation and final details of the draw later this week.
