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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

2026 FIFA World Cup Qualification (UEFA)

The European section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification competition will act as qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Canada, Mexico and the United States, for national teams that are members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). A total of 16 slots in the final tournament are available for UEFA teams.

Format

A revised qualification format was confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, on 25 January 2023. As the number of final tournament slots for UEFA has increased from 13 to 16, the qualification format was modified from the previous cycle. The qualifying group stage will feature twelve groups of four or five teams. The winner of each group will qualify for the World Cup, while the second-placed teams will advance to the play-offs, along with the four best-ranked group winners from the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League that finished outside the top two of their World Cup qualifying group. On 28 June 2023, the UEFA Executive Committee formally recommended the qualification format to FIFA, which was later approved.

  • First round (group stage): Twelve groups of four or five teams will play home-and-away matches against all other teams in the group. Group winners will qualify for the World Cup.
  • Second round (play-off stage): Sixteen teams (twelve group runners-up and four best Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall ranking, that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group) will be drawn into four paths, playing two rounds of single-match play-offs (semi-finals with the seeded teams to host, followed by finals, with the home teams to be drawn). The four path winners will qualify for the World Cup.

Schedule

Below is the schedule of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Groups of five teams (Groups G–L) will begin in March 2025, while groups of four teams (Groups A–F) will begin in September 2025.

Round Matchday Dates
Groups A–F Groups G–L
First round
(group stage)
Matchday 1 21–22 March 2025
Matchday 2 24–25 March 2025
Matchday 3 6–7 June 2025
Matchday 4 9–10 June 2025
Matchday 5 4–6 September 2025
Matchday 6 7–9 September 2025
Matchday 7 9–11 October 2025
Matchday 8 12–14 October 2025
Matchday 9 13–15 November 2025
Matchday 10 16–18 November 2025
Second round
(play-offs)
Semi-finals 26 March 2026
Finals 31 March 2026

Draw

The draw for the first round (group stage) was held on 13 December 2024, 12:00 CET, at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Of UEFA's 55 member associations, 54 men's national teams submitted a valid entry to the competition, while Russia's entry was not accepted due to suspension from UEFA and FIFA competitions following their country's invasion of Ukraine.

The teams were seeded into five pots: Pots 1 to 4 each contained twelve teams, and Pot 5 contained six teams. FIFA, in consultation with UEFA, announced the allocation of teams to the five pots following the completion of the league phase of the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League. The teams were drawn into twelve groups: six groups of four teams (Groups A–F) and six groups of five teams (Groups G–L).

Following changes to the UEFA qualifying format, the competition will feature staggered starting dates. Five-team groups will begin in March 2025, while four-team groups will start in September 2025. As 24 teams will be competing in the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League in March 2025 (8 in the League A quarter-finals and 16 in the League A/B or B/C promotion/relegation play-offs), significant changes were made to the seeding and draw procedures to accommodate all teams within the schedule.

Seeding method

Five-team groups could only contain one team participating in Nations League matches in March 2025, allowing these teams to have two free matchdays in World Cup qualifying to be scheduled during March. The remaining four teams in their group will play among themselves during this window. Additionally, as the four quarter-final winners will compete in the 2025 UEFA Nations League Finals in June, they cannot begin World Cup qualifying until September and therefore had to be drawn into four-team groups.

Given these conditions, Pot 1 contained the eight Nations League quarter-finalists, regardless of their position in the FIFA Men's World Ranking of November 2024. The quarter-finalists were represented by placeholders in the draw, denoting the winners and losers of each quarter-final pairing. The four remaining teams in Pot 1 were the next best-ranked teams in the World Ranking that November. The remaining teams were allocated to Pots 2 to 5 based on the World Ranking. This seeding method differs from previous cycles, as all World Cup qualifying group draws since 2010 have been seeded based solely on the World Ranking.

While ultimately not required, adjustments to Pots 2 to 5 could have been necessary depending on the distribution of teams competing in the Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs in March 2025. Specifically, if any draw pot contained more Nations League play-off teams than could be accommodated in the available qualifying groups, the lowest-ranked Nations League play-off team from that pot would have been swapped with the highest-ranked eligible team from the lower pot. This process would have been repeated as needed within the same pot or across different pots.

Draw procedure

The draw started with Pot 1 and completed with Pot 5. A team was drawn and assigned to the first available group (based on draw conditions) in alphabetical order. Each five-team group contained one team from each of the five pots, while each four-team group contained one team from each of the first four pots.

The following restrictions were applied with computer assistance:

  • Competition-related reasons: To allow for the parallel scheduling of World Cup qualifying and Nations League matches in March and June 2025, the following restrictions applied for allocating teams to groups of four or five:
    • Pot 1: The four teams participating in the 2025 UEFA Nations League Finals (identified as the winners of quarter-finals 1–4) were guaranteed to be drawn into four-team groups (Groups A–F). All other teams from this pot could be drawn into any group.
    • Pots 2, 3 and 4: Nations League promotion/relegation play-off teams from these pots could be drawn into any-sized group, but could only join five-team groups (Groups G–L) that did not already contain a losing quarter-finalist or play-off participant. All other teams from these pots could be drawn into any group.
  • Prohibited clashes: For political reasons, matches between the following pairs of teams were considered prohibited clashes and could not be drawn into the same group: Belarus–Ukraine, Gibraltar–Spain, Kosovo–Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo–Serbia. (Additionally, Armenia–Azerbaijan was identified as a prohibited clash, but the teams were in the same pot for the draw.)
  • Winter venues: A maximum of two teams whose venues were identified as having high or medium risk of severe winter conditions could be placed in each group: Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway.
    • The two "hard winter venues" (Faroe Islands and Iceland) generally cannot host games in March or November, thus could not be drawn together, whilst the others have to play as few home matches as possible in March and November.
  • Excessive travel: A maximum of one pair of teams identified with excessive travel distance in relation to other countries could be placed in each group:
    • Azerbaijan: with Gibraltar, Iceland, Portugal.
    • Iceland: with Armenia, Cyprus.
    • Kazakhstan: with Andorra, England, France, Gibraltar, Iceland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales.

Seeding pots

The draw pots were announced on 28 November 2024, based on the FIFA Men's World Ranking released on the same day.

Pot 1
QF Team Rank
1  Spain 3
 Netherlands 7
2  France 2
 Croatia 13
3  Portugal 6
 Denmark 21
4  Italy 9
 Germany 10
 England 4
 Belgium 8
  Switzerland 20
 Austria 22
Pot 2
Team Rank
 Ukraine 25
 Sweden 27
 Turkey 28
 Wales 29
 Hungary 30
 Serbia 32
 Poland 35
 Romania 38
 Greece 39
 Slovakia 41
 Czech Republic 42
 Norway 43
Pot 3
Team Rank
 Scotland 45
 Slovenia 55
 Republic of Ireland 60
 Albania 65
 North Macedonia 67
 Georgia 68
 Finland 69
 Iceland 70
 Northern Ireland 71
 Montenegro 73
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 74
 Israel 76
Pot 4
Team Rank
 Bulgaria 82
 Luxembourg 92
 Belarus 98
 Kosovo 99
 Armenia 100
 Kazakhstan 110
 Azerbaijan 117
 Estonia 123
 Cyprus 130
 Faroe Islands 137
 Latvia 140
 Lithuania 142
Pot 5
Team Rank
 Moldova 151
 Malta 169
 Andorra 171
 Gibraltar 197
 Liechtenstein 204
 San Marino 210
Banned from entering qualifying
Team Rank
 Russia 34

Key

  1. Nations League quarter-finalist, automatically seeded into Pot 1 and unavailable during the March 2025 window
  2. Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs participant that is unavailable during the March 2025 window

First round

The group stage fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 13 December 2024 following the draw.

Group A

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Slovakia Northern Ireland Luxembourg
1 Winner QF4 (Germany v Italy) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup 17 Nov 7 Sep 10 Oct
2  Slovakia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to play-offs 4 Sep 14 Nov 13 Oct
3  Northern Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 Oct 10 Oct 17 Nov
4  Luxembourg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 Nov 7 Sep 4 Sep
First match(es) will be played: 4 September 2025. Source: FIFA, UEFA

Group B

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Switzerland Sweden Slovenia Kosovo
1   Switzerland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup 15 Nov 8 Sep 5 Sep
2  Sweden 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to play-offs 10 Oct 18 Nov 13 Oct
3  Slovenia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 Oct 5 Sep 15 Nov
4  Kosovo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 Nov 8 Sep 10 Oct
First match(es) will be played: 5 September 2025. Source: FIFA, UEFA

Group C

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Greece Scotland Belarus
1 Loser QF3 (Portugal v Denmark) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup 12 Oct 5 Sep 15 Nov
2  Greece 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to play-offs 8 Sep 15 Nov 5 Sep
3  Scotland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 Nov 9 Oct 12 Oct
4  Belarus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 Oct 18 Nov 8 Sep
First match(es) will be played: 5 September 2025. Source: FIFA, UEFA

Group D

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Ukraine Iceland Azerbaijan
1 Winner QF2 (France v Croatia) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup 13 Nov 9 Sep 10 Oct
2  Ukraine 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to play-offs 5 Sep 16 Nov 13 Oct
3  Iceland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 Oct 10 Oct 5 Sep
4  Azerbaijan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 Nov 9 Sep 13 Nov
First match(es) will be played: 5 September 2025. Source: FIFA, UEFA

Group E

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Turkey Georgia (country) Bulgaria
1 Winner QF1 (Spain v Netherlands) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup 18 Nov 11 Oct 14 Oct
2  Turkey 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to play-offs 7 Sep 14 Oct 15 Nov
3  Georgia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Nov 4 Sep 7 Sep
4  Bulgaria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Sep 11 Oct 18 Nov
First match(es) will be played: 4 September 2025. Source: FIFA, UEFA

Group F

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Hungary Republic of Ireland Armenia
1 Winner QF3 (Portugal v Denmark) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup 14 Oct 11 Oct 16 Nov
2  Hungary 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to play-offs 9 Sep 16 Nov 11 Oct
3  Republic of Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 Nov 6 Sep 14 Oct
4  Armenia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Sep 13 Nov 9 Sep
First match(es) will be played: 6 September 2025. Source: FIFA, UEFA

Group G

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Poland Finland Lithuania Malta
1 Loser QF1 (Spain v Netherlands) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup 4 Sep 12 Oct 17 Nov 10 Jun
2  Poland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to play-offs 14 Nov 7 Sep 21 Mar 24 Mar
3  Finland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Jun 10 Jun 9 Oct 14 Nov
4  Lithuania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Sep 12 Oct 24 Mar 4 Sep
5  Malta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 Oct 17 Nov 21 Mar 7 Jun
First match(es) will be played: 21 March 2025. Source: FIFA, UEFA

Group H

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Austria Romania Bosnia and Herzegovina Cyprus San Marino
1  Austria 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup 7 Jun 18 Nov 6 Sep 9 Oct
2  Romania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to play-offs 12 Oct 21 Mar 10 Jun 18 Nov
3  Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 Sep 15 Nov 24 Mar 7 Jun
4  Cyprus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Nov 9 Sep 9 Oct 21 Mar
5  San Marino 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 Jun 24 Mar 6 Sep 12 Oct
First match(es) will be played: 21 March 2025. Source: FIFA, UEFA

Group I

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Norway Israel Estonia Moldova
1 Loser QF4 (Germany v Italy) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup 16 Nov 14 Oct 5 Sep 9 Jun
2  Norway 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to play-offs 6 Jun 11 Oct 13 Nov 8 Sep
3  Israel 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 Sep 25 Mar 22 Mar 16 Nov
4  Estonia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 Oct 9 Jun 6 Jun 14 Oct
5  Moldova 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 Nov 22 Mar 5 Sep 25 Mar
First match(es) will be played: 22 March 2025. Source: FIFA, UEFA

Group J

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Belgium Wales North Macedonia Kazakhstan Liechtenstein
1  Belgium 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup 9 Jun 10 Oct 7 Sep 18 Nov
2  Wales 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to play-offs 13 Oct 18 Nov 22 Mar 6 Jun
3  North Macedonia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Jun 25 Mar 13 Oct 7 Sep
4  Kazakhstan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 Nov 4 Sep 9 Jun 10 Oct
5  Liechtenstein 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 Sep 15 Nov 22 Mar 25 Mar
First match(es) will be played: 22 March 2025. Source: FIFA, UEFA

Group K

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification England Serbia Albania Latvia Andorra
1  England 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup 13 Nov 21 Mar 24 Mar 6 Sep
2  Serbia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to play-offs 9 Sep 11 Oct 16 Nov 10 Jun
3  Albania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 Nov 7 Jun 9 Sep 24 Mar
4  Latvia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 Oct 6 Sep 10 Jun 11 Oct
5  Andorra 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 Jun 14 Oct 13 Nov 21 Mar
First match(es) will be played: 21 March 2025. Source: FIFA, UEFA

Group L

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification Czech Republic Montenegro Faroe Islands Gibraltar
1 Loser QF2 (France v Croatia) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup 9 Jun 8 Sep 14 Nov 12 Oct
2  Czech Republic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Advance to play-offs 9 Oct 6 Jun 22 Mar 17 Nov
3  Montenegro 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 Nov 5 Sep 25 Mar 22 Mar
4  Faroe Islands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Sep 12 Oct 9 Oct 9 Jun
5  Gibraltar 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 Jun 25 Mar 14 Nov 8 Sep
First match(es) will be played: 22 March 2025. Source: FIFA, UEFA

Second round

The second round (play-offs) will be contested by the twelve group runners-up and the best four Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League interim overall ranking, who finish outside the top two of their qualifying group. The sixteen teams will be split into four play-off paths, each containing four teams. Each path will feature two single-leg semi-finals and one single-leg final. In the semi-finals, the fixtures of each path will be determined by seeding pots, with the Pot 1 team hosting the Pot 4 team and the Pot 2 team hosting the Pot 3 team. The host of each path final will be decided by a draw between the two semi-final pairings.

Nations League team selection

Based on the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League interim overall ranking, the best four Nations League group winners that finish outside the top two of their qualifying group will advance to the play-offs. If fewer than four Nations League group winners can be selected, the remaining spot(s) will be allocated to the best remaining team(s) in the Nations League interim overall ranking that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group.

The table below shows the order in which teams will be selected based on the UEFA Nations League interim overall ranking. For the Nations League quarter-finalists, the group they will enter should they win their tie is listed first.

UNL Rank Team Qualifying
group
Nations League group winners
A 1  Spain (X) E or G
2  Germany (X) A or I
3  Portugal (X) F or C
4  France (X) D or L
B 17  England K
18  Norway I
19  Wales J
20  Czech Republic L
C 33  Romania H
34  Sweden B
35  North Macedonia J
36  Northern Ireland A
D 49  Moldova I
50  San Marino H
Nations League remaining teams
A 5  Italy A or I
6  Netherlands E or G
7  Denmark F or C
8  Croatia D or L
9  Scotland C
10  Serbia K
11  Hungary F
12  Belgium J
13  Poland G
14  Israel I
15   Switzerland B
16  Bosnia and Herzegovina H

Key

  • (X) Team is assured at least a play-off spot based on Nations League ranking

Draw

For the draw, the sixteen teams will be divided into four pots of four teams each. The twelve group runners-up will be allocated to pots 1 to 3, with seeding based on the FIFA Men's World Ranking of November 2025. The four teams qualified via the Nations League will be automatically seeded into pot 4. The play-off paths are structured as follows:

  • Play-off Path A is formed by semi-finals 1 and 2, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final A.
  • Play-off Path B is formed by semi-finals 3 and 4, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final B.
  • Play-off Path C is formed by semi-finals 5 and 6, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final C.
  • Play-off Path D is formed by semi-finals 7 and 8, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final D.

The draw for the semi-finals will start with Pot 1 and complete with Pot 4. Teams will be drawn and assigned to the first available play-off semi-final (considering prohibited clashes) in numerical order, as follows:

  • The Pot 1 teams (seeded) will be allocated to semi-finals 1, 3, 5 and 7 as the host team.
  • The Pot 2 teams (seeded) will be allocated to semi-finals 2, 4, 6 and 8 as the host team.
  • The Pot 3 teams (unseeded) will be allocated to semi-finals 2, 4, 6 and 8 as the away team.
  • The Pot 4 teams (unseeded) will be allocated to semi-finals 1, 3, 5 and 7 as the away team.

The draw for the final hosts will take place immediately afterwards, with finals A, B, C and D each having one of their semi-finalists selected as the host team.

For political reasons, matches between the following pairs of teams are considered prohibited clashes and cannot be drawn into the same play-off path: Armenia–Azerbaijan, Belarus–Ukraine, Gibraltar–Spain, Kosovo–Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo–Serbia. The seeding pots for the semi-final draw are as follows.

Seeded Unseeded
Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4 (UNL)
  1.  
  2.  
  3.  
  4.  
  1.  
  2.  
  3.  
  4.  
  1.  
  2.  
  3.  
  4.  
  1.  
  2.  
  3.  
  4.  

Notes

  1. ^ As there were only six four-team groups available for the eight quarter-finalists, and the identity of the 2025 UEFA Nations League Finals participants was not known at the time of the World Cup qualifying draw, the eight quarter-finalists were represented in Pot 1 as the winners or defeated teams of quarter-finals 1–4.
  2. ^ The Gibraltar–Spain draw condition only applies to the placeholder for the loser of quarter-final 1, featuring the Netherlands and Spain. This is because the winner will join a four-team group, while Gibraltar, as a Pot 5 team, will be placed in a five-team group.
  3. ^ Belarus and Ukraine, which typically have a winter venue draw restriction, did not have it applied given they were required to play at neutral venues.
  4. ^ Excessive travel pairings involving France, Spain and Portugal applied to the placeholders for both the winner and loser of their respective quarter-final pairing.
  5. ^ Israel, which typically have an excessive travel restriction with Iceland, were removed given they were required to play at neutral venues.
  6. ^ The table lists teams down to the lowest-ranked team that could potentially receive a play-off spot (the team ranked 16th in League A), based on the distribution of teams to qualifying groups.

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