World Cup Draw Simulated as England Handed Tough Group
To spice things up ahead of Friday's official draw, we decided to simulate the entirety of next summer's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico – and it made for a fun little experiment.
We are almost there. On the afternoon of December 5 at around 17:00 GMT, the final World Cup draw will take place at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington DC.
So far, 42 nations have secured their places, while 22 nations are still in the running to claim one of the six remaining places that will be determined through the March 2026 playoffs.
As we mentioned last month, the World Cup will be separated into two pathways, with the two top-ranked teams, Spain (1) and Argentina (2), being paired and placed into opposite sides of the knockout round bracket.
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France (3) and England (4) will also be paired, meaning the Three Lions will not be able to come up against Spain or Argentina until the semi-finals, and France until the final.
So, how did they get on in our simulation? Using the World Cup Simulator website, Thomas Tuchel's side were placed into Group E alongside Norway, Morocco and New Zealand.
It was a tough group, to say the least. Norway come into next summer's tournament with arguably the strongest side in their history, with Erling Haaland and Alexander Sørloth leading the front line.
Morocco, meanwhile, became the first African nation to qualify for the 2026 World Cup as Achraf Hakimi, Hakim Ziyech and Sofyan Amrabat featured for Walid Regragui's side in CAF qualifying.
Despite tough opposition, however, England cruised into the Round of 32, going unbeaten in Group E with nine points from a possible nine.
The Three Lions recorded a routine 3-0 win in their opener against New Zealand at the Lincoln Financial Field, before picking up a further six points against Norway (3-1) and Morocco (3-0).
For those interested, Scotland finished third in Group C after being pitted against Brazil, while Wales finished rock bottom of Group B following defeats to Canada and Uzbekistan.
England would soon be pitted against underdogs South Africa, who finished third in Group E, and it was another straightforward result for the Three Lions as they picked up another 3-0 victory.
Five days later, at the 72,000-capacity Houston Stadium, a Round of 16 clash against Portugal would provide their toughest test to date.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who confirmed ahead of the tournament that the 2026 edition would be his last, managed to score but it wasn't enough as England booked their spot in the quarter-final stages with a narrow 2-1 victory.
A tricky afternoon in Foxborough followed. In fact, Tuchel's men were outfought and outclassed by the Netherlands, with the Oranje blowing their opponents away with a shock 4-1 win.
Ronald Koeman's side would later be knocked out in the semi-finals by eventual winners Argentina, who beat Spain on penalties to secure back-to-back World Cup wins in what could be Lionel Messi's final bow on the international stage.
In total, 309 goals were scored across the historic 48-team tournament. You can simulate your own World Cup journey here.
Topics: FIFA World Cup, England, Wales, Scotland, Argentina, Spain
Jack Kenmare