The World Cup Draw: From Children Drawing Lots to Superstars Attending

The 2026 World Cup will be the 23rd World Cup, which also means the 23rd draw ceremony. Looking back at previous draws, there are countless stories surrounding the competition format, seeded teams, draw methods, "groups of death," and the guests who conduct the draw.

1930 World Cup: A Temporary Draw

The 1930 World Cup was held in three stadiums in Montevideo, the capital of host country Uruguay. This was a World Cup without qualifying rounds, purely by invitation only, and was planned to have 16 teams compete in a knockout tournament. However, due to the Great Depression in Europe, only four countries participated, resulting in a final 13 teams.

The draw was held temporarily after all the teams arrived in Montevideo. Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, and the United States were seeded. Argentina was drawn into a group with four teams, while the other three groups each had three teams, with only the group winner advancing. Uruguay won the inaugural World Cup after four matches.

1934 & 1938 World Cups: Seeded Teams After Being Swept Away

The 1934 and 1938 World Cups did not have group stages; instead, 16 teams competed in a knockout tournament, with 8 teams participating as seeded teams.

On March 5, 1938, the World Cup draw was held in Paris, presided over by Jules Rimet's grandson. Austria was seeded. However, less than 10 days after the draw, Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany, resulting in only 15 teams participating in the World Cup. Sweden, drawn against Austria, automatically advanced to the quarterfinals.

1950 World Cup: Repeated Withdrawals

The 1950 World Cup, held after the war, suffered from a chaotic format. Scotland and Turkey, after qualifying, refused to participate, and France, eliminated, was re-invited to fill the vacancy. On May 22, 1950, 15 teams participated in the World Cup draw in Rio de Janeiro.

However, after the draw, India and France refused to participate, resulting in only 13 teams participating in the World Cup. The first two groups had 4 teams each, India's withdrawal resulted in only 3 teams in the third group, and France's withdrawal resulted in only Uruguay and Bolivia in the fourth group. Uruguay once again won the World Cup title through four matches.

1954 World Cup: Double Seeding

The 1954 World Cup featured a stable 16 teams, divided into four groups. However, the format was different. Two seeded teams in each group played only the two unseeded teams, avoiding direct matches between each other. Each team played two matches, and each group played four matches. The quarter-final and semi-final matchups were also determined by draw.

On November 30, 1953, the World Cup draw took place in Zurich, with Spain initially seeded. However, Spain was eliminated by Turkey in the qualifying rounds the following year due to a draw, and Turkey inherited Spain's seeded position.

At that time, World Cup seeding was determined by a vote of the organizing committee.

1958 & 1962 World Cups: A Battle of Europe and America

The 1958 World Cup did not have seeding. Four Western European teams were in one pot, four Eastern European teams in another, four British teams in another, and four American teams in yet another.

The 1962 World Cup was divided into two tiers: South American teams in one tier, European teams in two tiers, and all other teams in a third tier. These two World Cups featured 12 and 10 European teams respectively, with no Asian or African teams participating. Consequently, many groups consisted of three European teams against one American team.

1966 World Cup: Television-broadcast Draw

On January 6, 1966, the World Cup draw was broadcast live for the first time. Host nation England, defending champions Brazil, West Germany, and Italy were seeded.

This old-movie-quality video of the draw recreates the scene from 60 years ago.

1970 World Cup: Draw Completed by a 10-Year-Old Girl

On January 10, 1970, the World Cup draw took place in Mexico City. The organizing committee decided that day not to establish seeded teams, but instead to divide the 16 teams into four tiers based on their geographical location. During the seeding process, the organizing committee considered the teams' relative strengths, placing England, Italy, the Soviet Union, and West Germany in one pot, and Mexico, Brazil, Peru, and Uruguay in another.

Host Mexico was placed in Group A, while defending champions England were placed in Group C. It is customary for the host nation and the defending champion to be in different groups during the World Cup. The 10-year-old daughter of Guillermo Canedo, president of the Mexican Football Federation and chairman of the FIFA organizing committee, drew the teams from the four silver trophies, completing the World Cup draw.

1974 World Cup: The Magic Hand of a Little Boy

The 1974 World Cup seeded teams were determined by a vote of the organizing committee, with host West Germany, defending champions Brazil, and the four semi-finalists from the previous year, Italy and Uruguay, as the seeded teams.

On January 5, 1974, the draw was conducted by an 11-year-old boy named Detlef Lange. As a result, the little boy's magical hand drew a pairing that left everyone speechless: West Germany drew East Germany! A hush fell over the stadium, followed by bursts of applause.

1978 World Cup: 5 Seeded Teams

This was the last World Cup with only 16 teams participating, but the organizing committee determined 5 seeded teams: host Argentina, defending champions West Germany, previous semi-finalists Netherlands and Brazil, and Italy.

The draw was conducted by the grandson of then FIFA President João Havelange. As a result, Italy, one of the seeded teams, was drawn against the host nation Argentina, along with France and Hungary. The supposed "advantage" of being the host nation in the draw did not materialize.

1982 World Cup: The Chaotic Drum Roller

On January 16, 1982, the draw for the first World Cup, expanded to 24 teams, took place at the Madrid Convention Center. FIFA announced the six seeded teams that day: host Spain, defending champions Argentina, Brazil, England, Italy, and West Germany.

The draw followed the principle of avoiding South American teams. Therefore, in the B draw, European teams were prioritized for allocation to Argentina in Group 3 and Brazil in Group 6, ensuring that Chile and Peru would avoid them. The then FIFA Secretary General, 46-year-old Sepp Blatter, forgot this rule, placing Belgium, drawn first, into Group 1 and Scotland into Group 3, subsequently having to correct the error. Even more embarrassingly, the drawing drum malfunctioned, preventing the ball from being retrieved. FIFA subsequently learned its lesson and found that using human intervention was more reliable.

1986 World Cup: Undisputed Seeded Teams

The 1986 World Cup draw was based on the results of the previous World Cup. Host nation Mexico, along with the previous World Cup's four semi-finalists Italy, West Germany, Poland, France, and Brazil (who finished fifth), were seeded.

Before the introduction of the FIFA World Ranking, using the previous World Cup results as a standard was relatively more consistent.

1990 World Cup: A Luxurious Feast

The 1990 World Cup draw boasted a star-studded lineup. On December 9, 1989, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, FIFA Secretary General Sepp Blatter presided over the draw. Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, legendary actress Sofia Loren, and football stars Pelé, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bobby Moore, Passarella, Ruben Sousa, and Bruno Conte served as guests of honor.

Sophia Loren drew a favorable draw for Italy: Czechoslovakia, Austria, and the United States, leading to speculation that her ring was magnetic. Maradona protested the pre-arranged draw, noting that Argentina's draw was far more difficult than Italy's: Cameroon, Romania, and the Soviet Union.

Since the Italy World Cup, the World Cup draw has officially become a major event.

1994 World Cup: The Extravagant Las Vegas

On December 19, 1993, the World Cup draw ceremony took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center in the United States. The famous Caesars Palace Hotel, the headquarters of FIFA, was described by American media as "smoky and rife with gamblers," with "FIFA officials enjoying life in luxury suites, wandering around the Sin City with hefty allowances." The extravagance of the 1993 Las Vegas World Cup draw was unprecedented in its history.

The draw ceremony was presided over by FIFA Secretary General Sepp Blatter, with Eusébio, Bobby Charlton, Platini, Roger Miller, and Van Basten in attendance. Women's World Cup champion Axelsen, actress Beau Bridges, model Carol Eitel, artist Peter Marks, cyclist Andretti, and Olympic gymnastics champion Lou Leighton participated in the draw. "Football Emperor" Beckenbauer, boxer Evander Holyfield, and actor Robin Williams drew the group numbers.

Although the FIFA World Rankings were first introduced in December 1992, FIFA still selected the host country plus the five teams with the best results in the previous three World Cups as seeded teams: the United States, Germany, Argentina, Italy, Brazil, and Belgium. At that time, Belgium was ranked 27th in the world, while the Netherlands (ranked 2nd), Spain (ranked 5th), Norway (ranked 6th), and Romania (ranked 7th) were not seeded.

1998 World Cup: The Tricks of the Draw

On December 4, 1997, the draw for the FIFA World Cup was held at the Stade Villeneuve in Marseille, marking the first time FIFA had held a World Cup draw in a football stadium. Nearly 38,000 spectators were present, and approximately one billion television viewers worldwide watched the ceremony.

This is the first World Cup to expand to 32 teams. FIFA combined the world rankings of the past three years (accounting for 40%) with the results of the past three World Cups (accounting for 60%), and through weighting, Germany, Brazil, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Romania, and the Netherlands were ranked in the top 7, and together with the host country France, ranked 13th, they participated as seeded teams.

Twenty years later, Michel Platini, then chairman of the World Cup organizing committee, revealed an inside story: "We played a little trick. If France and Brazil both topped their groups, they would be placed in opposite halves of the bracket and wouldn't meet before the final. We spent six years preparing for the World Cup, so naturally we wouldn't overlook any details. Wouldn't other host countries do the same?"

2002 World Cup: The Rule of Two Host Countries

The 2002 World Cup was the first to have two hosts. Defending champions France were placed in Group A, while hosts South Korea and Japan were placed in Groups D and H, respectively. South Korea hosted Groups A-D, and Japan hosted Groups E-H.

This World Cup draw involved a principle of distributing teams between Japan and South Korea. For example, seeded teams Argentina and Brazil had to have one team go to Japan and the other to South Korea, and the proportion of teams from each continent in Japan and South Korea had to be relatively equal.

China, Saudi Arabia, and three other unseeded South American teams are in the same seeding group. These three South American teams must avoid Brazil and Argentina. China must play in a group match hosted by South Korea and avoid South Korea, so it can only be placed in groups A-C.

This World Cup draw featured one of the most notorious "groups of death" in World Cup history: Argentina, Nigeria, England, and Sweden.

2006 World Cup: Serbia and Montenegro Abandoned 

The seeding logic for the 2006 World Cup draw remained a combination of past World Cup results and world rankings. Host nation Germany was seeded alongside Brazil, England, Spain, Mexico, France, Italy, and Argentina. Host nation Germany was placed in Group A, while defending champions Brazil were placed in Group F.

At the time, aside from the seeded teams, the distribution of other pots was based on geographical location. Unseeded European teams were in a separate pot, but because there were nine teams in the pot, Serbia and Montenegro were placed in a separate pot and drawn first against seeded teams Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. The controversy lies in the fact that FIFA's potting process considered both World Cup performance and world ranking, but the logic behind placing Serbia and Montenegro separately relied solely on world ranking; otherwise, Ukraine would have been in a separate pot.

Serbia and Montenegro were drawn into Group C, alongside Argentina, the Netherlands, and Ivory Coast.

2010 World Cup: The Unlucky Host

The 2010 World Cup seeding was entirely based on world ranking, while other pots were still determined by geographical location. Host South Africa was seeded along with the top seven ranked teams: Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, and England.

The so-called host nation advantage failed to materialize. South Africa drew top-tier European powerhouse France, World Cup regulars Mexico, and former World Cup champions Uruguay – a truly terrible draw.

2014 World Cup: The Controversy Over World Rankings

The seeding for the 2014 World Cup was somewhat controversial, as it was based entirely on the October 2013 world rankings. Host nation Brazil, along with Spain, Germany, Argentina, Colombia, Belgium, Uruguay, and Switzerland, were seeded, resulting in the Netherlands, Italy, England, Portugal, and France all being placed in the same pot.

The European pot had nine teams, so one was drawn to be in the same pot as Asia/South America. This team was Italy. This also caused controversy, as according to previous tournaments, this team should have been the lowest-ranked team in that pot (France), not chosen by draw. FIFA Secretary General, Frenchman Valcke, and UEFA President, French football legend Platini, were questioned about whether the rules had been altered.

Ultimately, the draw for this World Cup resulted in a super combination of Spain + Netherlands, Germany + Portugal, and England + Italy.

2018 World Cup: World Rankings Determine Seeding

In the 2018 World Cup draw, all seedings were determined entirely by world rankings, unlike previous editions where world rankings only determined seeded teams, with other seedings decided by the respective continental federations. Host nation Russia was seeded alongside Germany, Brazil, Portugal, Argentina, Belgium, Poland, and France, while Spain and England were placed in the second pot.

As a result, Spain was drawn against Portugal, England against Belgium, and host nation Russia received a favorable draw, grouped with Uruguay, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.

2022 World Cup: No Confirmed Teams

The draw for the 2022 World Cup, held in the winter, took place on April 1st of that year. Host nation Qatar was grouped with the top 7 ranked teams in the world.

The Netherlands and Germany were considered two "bombshells" in Pot 2, but host nation Qatar, like South Africa 12 years ago, was unlucky enough to be drawn against the Netherlands, while Germany and Spain were drawn together.

At the time of this World Cup draw, two continental playoff spots and one European playoff spot were still undecided, requiring them to avoid each other during the draw, similar to the upcoming draw.

In short, the World Cup draw, after a century of development, has become increasingly exciting and grand, with a grand opening ceremony and the anticipated "group of death" becoming the main themes.