New Zealand have been drawn to face Belgium, Egypt and Iran in Group G  at next year’s FIFA World Cup 2026™ in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

The draw has taken place at the John Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Darren Bazeley’s side, who won the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Oceania Qualifiers final in March, was the last team in the draw to be pulled out of the pots and will play their opening match against Iran.

The All Whites played Egypt in March, losing 1-0 and last played Iran in 2023, lsoing 3-0. They have never played Belgium.

New Caledonia have the chance to be the second team from Oceania to qualify via the FIFA Playoff tournament in Mexico in March where they face Jamaica in Guadalajara with the winner to play DR Congo for a place at the finals. The successful team will go into Group K alongside Portugal, Uzbekistan and Columbia.

FIFA’s global showpiece has been expanded to 48 teams and for the first time is being played across three countries. The tournament will run from June 11 to July 19 next year with the opening match pitting co-hosts Mexico against South Africa in Group A.

New Zealand’s match schedule to be confirmed when the official schedule is released tomorrow:

June 15 (June 16 NZ time): Iran in Los Angeles or Seattle
June 21 (June 22 NZ time): Egypt in Los Angeles or Vancouver
June 26 (June 27 NZ time): Belgium in Seattle or Vancouver

The groups

A: Mexico, South Africa, South Korea, (Denmark/North Macedonia/Czechia/Republic of Ireland)

B: Canada, Qatar, Switzerland, (Italy/Northern Ireland/Wales/Bosnia & Herzegovina)

C: Brazil, Morocco, Scotland, Haiti

D: United States, Paraguay, Australia, (Turkiye/Romania/Sloavkia/Kosovo)

E: Germany, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Curaçao

F: Netherlands, Japan, Morocco, (Ukraine/Sweden/Poland/Albania)

G: Belgium, Egypt, Iran, New Zealand

H: Spain, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay, Cabo Verde

I: France, Senegal, Norway, (Iraq/Bolivia/Suriname)

J: Argentina, Algeria, Austria, Jordan

K: Portugal, Colombia, Uzbekistan, (DR Congo/Jamaica/New Caledonia)

L: England, Croatia, Ghana, Panama