The 2026 World Cup Draw is about to happen — here’s how to watch it live

(Image credit: FIFA)

published 3 December 2025

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is being held across the US, Mexico and Canada next year, and the draw takes place this week.

It’s where we find out the shape of next year’s tournament, and it’s all going to be available to watch on the BBC.

The FIFA World Cup Draw will be shown live at 5pm — UK time — on BBC Two, on Friday December 5th, broadcast from the Kennedy Centre in Washington. It will also be available to watch shortly after on BBC iPlayer.

In classic American fashion, it’s going to be much more than just a sober announcement of who will play who in the World Cup’s first stages. Among the performers are Robbie Williams, Nicole Scherzinger, The Village People and Andrea Bocelli.

Comedian Kevin Hart and Heidi Klum will host the show, alongside actor Danny Ramirez.

“To be hosting the final draw again, after having been involved in this show 20 years ago in my home country, is truly extraordinary,” says Klum, who was part of the draw show in Germany all the way back in 2006.

The draw itself usually takes around 45 minutes, while all those celeb performances will stretch proceedings out to around 90 minutes.

If you don’t fancy watching the whole thing televised, you can listen on Radio 5 Live — with catch-up via the BBC Sounds app.

Exterior view from the Met Life Stadium on May 23, 2023 from East Rutherford New Jersey. The tournament will be the first World Cup held across three countries: the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

The 2026 World Cup begins on June 11th, with the final set to take place at the New York-New Jersey Stadium on July 19th.

Among the good news is that the BBC and ITV are sharing the rights to broadcast the tournament, keeping the footie free-to-air for UK fans.

And for those who have somehow avoided all World Cup news until now, next year’s tournament also marks the first time Scotland has qualified for the men’s World Cup in 28 years.

Get ready for double the Club World Cup football action as FIFA plans more tournaments

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Andrew Williams has written about all sorts of stuff for more than a decade — from tech and fitness to entertainment and fashion. He has written for a stack of magazines and websites including Wired, TrustedReviews, TechRadar and Stuff, enjoys going to gigs and painting in his spare time. He's also suspiciously good at poker.

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