World Cup 2026 play-off draw live: Wales, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland to discover opponents

The pot 1 teams have been draw as follows…

Here we go then. The pot 1 teams will be drawn first into different paths…

While we wait for the draw ceremony to begin, a reminder of how it all works.

Each of the four paths in the play-offs will feature one team from Pot 1, one from Pot 2, one from Pot 3 and one from Pot 4.

The semi-finals will see the Pot 1 team face the Pot 4 team, and the Pot 2 team face the Pot 3 team, with those Pot 1 and 2 teams at home.

The two semi-final winners from each path will then meet in the final (with home advantage to be decided in the initial draw) and the winner of that clash qualifies for the World Cup.

Gianni Infantino is chattering away on the mic, and he says: “Remember, football unites the world.” I’d argue it literally pits countries against one another but anyway, here we go.

Marco Materazzi and Martin Dahlin are on stage now to do some ball plucking.

So two teams from the inter-continental play-offs will join the 42 nations already qualified for the 2026 World Cup. That leaves four remaining spots…

Next up, the European draw: 16 teams, eight semi-finals and four finals to be mapped out.

Jamaica manager Steve McClaren stepped down after their failure to qualify automatically, so they will have a new coach leading them into the play-offs, as they take on New Caledonia, the group of Pacific islands ranked 149th in the world.

And the second semi-final:

The winner will play Iraq in the final for a place at the World Cup.

Here comes the first semi-final:

The winner will play DR Congo in the final for a place at the World Cup.

First up, before the European draw, is the inter-continental draw.

A reminder: the inter-continental play-offs will see two more teams added to the World Cup. The draw features six nations, with the top two teams based on Fifa rankings receiving a bye through to the two finals.

They are DR Congo and Iraq.

The other four nations are Bolivia, New Caledonia, Jamaica, Suriname.

This draw has two big names helping out with the balls. Marco Materazzi, of Zidane-heatbutt and Mourinho-tears fame, and Martin Dahlin, Swedish striker and Blackburn Rovers cult hero.