Socceroos to face Paraguay and host country US in 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup
Tony Popovic said his team should be able to get through the group stage. (ABC News: Bradley McLennan)
In short:
The draw for the initial group stage of the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup has taken place.
Australia will play Paraguay, the US and the winner of European play-off matches between Türkiye, Romania, Slovakia and Kosovo.
What's next?
A detailed schedule will be released on Sunday, Australian time.
Australia's Socceroos will face host country the United States, as well as Paraguay and a team that is yet to qualify, in the initial group stage of next year's FIFA Men's World Cup.
The World Cup draw has taken place at a glitzy ceremony in Washington DC, delivering the Socceroos a relatively favourable draw that coach Tony Popovic says his team should be able to get through.
"Anyone that underestimates us, I think will get a rude shock when it comes to those group games," Popovic said.
Heidi Klum was one of the hosts of the draw. (Amber Searls/Imagn Images via Reuters)
Australia, which is ranked 26th in the world, has been placed into Group D, along with the 14th-ranked US and 39th-ranked Paraguay.
Australia's third group-stage opponent will be determined by the results of European play-off matches between Türkiye (ranked 25th), Romania (47th), Slovakia (45th) and Kosovo (80th).
"You know, every draw is tough, but it's a draw that we believe we can get through," Popovic told reporters in Washington.
A record 48 teams will compete in the 2026 Men's World Cup. The US is sharing hosting duties with neighbouring nations Mexico and Canada.
Mark Carney, Claudia Sheinbaum and Donald Trump represented the tournament's host nations at the event.
The group-stage matches will be played in 16 cities across the three host countries in June next year.
The venues have been grouped into three regions to minimise travel distances for players. The Socceroos' placement in Group D means they will play at "western region" venues, which are in California, Seattle and Vancouver, Canada.
Football Australia will run a ballot for tickets. Interim CEO Heather Garriock said more than 150,000 Australians had registered for the ballot.
Garriock said she was "content" with the draw result.
"We wanted to draw a host nation, we knew how big it would be," she said.
Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger performed at the event. (Reuters: Dan Mullan)
The draw result has also been welcomed by many American football fans in the co-host country. Some believe they have been given a relatively easy path to the knock-out stage.
Former US men's player Mike Grella, now an analyst for CBS, described the match-up with the Socceroos as a "lay-up for the US".
"Take nothing away from the Socceroos, they've always been competitive and good, but they stumbled a little bit through qualifying, they were not so impressive," he said.
"This is an amazing draw, an amazing first team to have for the US."
A full schedule will be released at a second event in Washington DC at midday on Saturday (4am Sunday, AEDT).
FIFA said the schedule would be designed to "ensure the best possible conditions for all teams" and, where possible, cater to their fans' time zones.
Each team will play the other three teams in their group.
The top two teams from each group, plus the eight best third-placed teams, will advance to the knock-out stage.
The group system has been designed to ensure the four highest-ranked nations — Spain, Argentina, France and England — will not meet until the semifinals, assuming they win in the group stage.
Donald Trump attended the draw event, where FIFA awarded him with a new peace prize. (Reuters: Dan Mullan)
US President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum attended the celebrity-laden draw event, which was hosted by supermodel Heidi Klum and comedian Kevin Hart.
Soccer's world governing body, FIFA, also used the event, at Washington DC's Kennedy Centre, to gift Mr Trump with the inaugural "FIFA Peace Prize".
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said the prize was "in recognition of his exceptional and extraordinary actions to promote peace and unity around the world".