All Whites and Auckland FC defender Francis de Vries says while he won't be setting an alarm to watch the early morning live draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026, he is hoping for one country in particular to be drawn in New Zealand's pool.
Saturday is shaping up to be a bumper day for Kiwi football fans and players.
The FIFA World Cup 26 draw in the morning will reveal who the All Whites will take on next year, before the country's two professional teams duke it out in the A-League derby later that evening.
De Vries told Breakfast he was "very excited" for the draw, though he wouldn't be getting up early.
"It's preparation for the game, I don't want to change any of my routines, I'll of course check it when I get up."
Watch the draw live on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+ from 5.55am on Saturday.
Asked if there was a specific team he'd love the All Whites to face, de Vries said it was an easy choice.
"My Dad's from Holland so I'd love to get the opportunity to get Netherlands in the group."
The All Whites were guaranteed to meet a tournament co-host or one of the other nine best teams in the world from Pot 1.
De Vries said his father would be up to watch the draw while his attention would be fully on another encounter with the Wellington Phoenix.
"There was a bit of controversy there [last time around], I think it's been good for us to have a couple of weeks in between to reflect back on how that game went, on what they did well and how we can counter that."
He said he would discuss the draw with the Phoenix's All Whites players after the game.
"I'm sure we'll have a little catch up after the game."
Tomorrow morning’s draw, taking place in Washington DC and live on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+ from 5.55am, will see the All Whites likely drawn against some of the world’s best teams.
All 48 teams have been separated into four pots, based largely on rankings, with Pot 1 made up of the three host nations and the highest ranked teams.
New Zealand slots into Pot 4 and will be drawn against one team from each of the top three pots.
Pot 1: Canada, Mexico, USA, Spain, Argentina, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany.
Pot 2: Croatia, Morocco, Colombia, Uruguay, Switzerland, Japan, Senegal, Islamic Republic of Iran, Republic of Korea, Ecuador, Austria, Australia.
Pot 3: Norway, Panama, Egypt, Algeria, Scotland, Paraguay, Tunisia, Côte d’Ivoire, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa.
Pot 4: Jordan, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Curaçao, Haiti, New Zealand, four European play-off teams, two intercontinental play-off teams
(The final four European places will come from play-offs involving Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czechia, Denmark, Italy, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, North Macedonia, Poland, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Türkiye, Ukraine and Wales. Two other spots will be contested by Bolivia, Congo DR, Iraq, Jamaica, New Caledonia and Suriname.)
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