‘It’s s***!’ Match of the Day host hits out ahead of 2026 World Cup draw

A BBC Match of the Day host has lambasted the World Cup’s seeding system headed into next summer’s tournament in North America, claiming that fans want to see big matches from the outset

Mark Chapman has labelled the 2026 World Cup seeding system as “s***” ahead of Friday’s group stage draw. He also claims that football fans want to see big games early on in the tournament, rather than waiting for the semi-finals.

Speaking on The Sports Agents with Gabby Logan and Adam Crafton, the Match of the Day presenter explained: “This is going to be a complicated draw because of FIFA’s decision to expand this tournament and hold it in three different countries.

On top of that, introducing another seeding system, as opposed to just having pot one, pot two, pot three and pot four, the top four nations in the world are going to be seeded like a Wimbledon draw so that they can’t face each other.”

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To which, The Athletic’s Crafton replied: “I think maybe it’s designed to maximise broadcast proposition. In theory, you know, you get the biggest match ups later in the competition. I think there’s the risk is that you get kind of slightly duller earlier games.”

Reiterating his point, an unimpressed Chapman then added: “Do you know what? I’ll jump in. It’s s***. It’s a really s*** idea. In ’82, they had Argentina, Brazil and Italy in the same group of three, and they played each other in some of the best games a World Cup has seen. And sometimes you want a big game early.”

The draw for the 2026 World Cup is set to take place on Friday, December 5, where all nations involved will find out their groups for the first 48-team tournament in the competition’s history. A total of 12 groups will be crafted in total, as teams vie for the prestigious Jules Rimet Trophy.

However, there have been changes made to how teams are drawn. The hosting countries in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America have all been allocated into Pot 1, alongside the nine top teams in the current FIFA rankings.

The other three pots have also been decided by the FIFA rankings, with the lowest-ranked qualified teams sharing Pot 4. The 12 groups of the World Cup will then be formed by each team from one pot.

FIFA’s draw also say that no group can contain more than one team from the same confederation, with exception of UEFA, who must have at least one but no more than two European team per group. It also means that the top four teams in the FIFA rankings, in Spain, Argentina, France and England, will be able to face each other until the semi-finals of the tournament, should they win their respective groups.

While it will mean that England face easier competition on paper on their road to the semi-finals, it also means that football fans worldwide might not see games between the highest-rated teams until the latter stages of the tournament.

Here are the top nine teams in the FIFA rankings at present:

1. Spain
2. Argentina
3. France
4. England
5. Brazil
6. Portugal
7. Netherlands
8. Belgium
9. Germany

England secured qualification to next year’s tournament in style, having won all eight of their World Cup qualifiers over Albania, Serbia, Latvia and Andorra. Thomas Tuchel’s side also failed to concede a single goal in Group K, giving the Three Lions a major boost headed into the 2026 World Cup.

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