Scotland World Cup draw 2026: What the dream draw for the Tartan Army looks like
Scotland are going to the World Cup and will find out the location of their group matches and their opponents tonight. Amidst the spectacle, what’s the best case scenario for the Tartan Army?
This is it. Scotland are going to the World Cup and the draw this evening will set the scene for next summer. I was at Hampden for the match against Denmark where four goals - four! - from Steve Clarke’s men ensured automatic qualification and sent the Tartan Army on the road to America, Canada and Mexico. Now we await our fate with the 2026 World Cup draw set to take place in Washington DC.
Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand will be the presenter, joined by broadcaster Samantha Johnson and a cavalcade of sporting greats, including Tom Brady, Wayne Gretzky, Aaron Judge and Shaquille O'Neal. The draw, featuring 48 countries, takes place at the Kennedy Center at 5pm UK time.
American disco group, Village People, are due to perform 1970s song YMCA as part of the ceremony. Robbie Williams, Andrea Bocelli and Nicole Scherzinger will also perform. There will be segments featuring Heidi Klum, Kevin Hart and Danny Ramirez.
Within all the razzmatazz, if you are sitting at home in Glasgow, or in Tartan Army pubs like The Horse Shoe, Hootenanny and The Pot Still, you will only be interested in one thing - who will Scotland face in the 2026 World Cup from 11 June to 19 July, jointly hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada?
Sixteen cities will host games - 11 in the US, three in Mexico and two in Canada.
For the draw, there are four pots with 12 nations in each. Scotland are in pot three.
Each group is made up of a team from each pot. Six spots remain in pot four and they will be claimed by the play-off winners.
Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Iran, Korea Republic, Ecuador, Austria, Australia
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
Pot 4: Jordan, Cape Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, European Play-Off A, B, C and D, FIFA Play-Off Tournament [Intercontinental play-off] 1 and 2
One of the worst case the scenarios would be a group of Argentina, Morocco, Scotland and Italy - presuming the Italians make it through a World Cup playoff.
One of the kindest draws this evening would put Scotland together with other countries from the Commonwealth. Purely on world rankings, a possible group of Canada, Australia, Scotland and New Zealand would ideal for sporting reasons and would unite elements of the Caledonian diaspora.
With the matches set to be played across three different host cities - Canada, Mexico and USA - the tournament will be held over a huge geographical area, as well as several time zones.
Here are all 16 host cities, some of the attractions they offer, the stadiums that will host the games, and - more importantly - how much a pint will cost.