New Delhi: In January, Thomas Tuchel officially takes over as manager of England, and in March, he will play his first competitive games. Group K will see England play Albania, Andorra, Latvia and Serbia. Scotland will be in a group with the winner of Portugal vs. Denmark in the Nations League quarterfinal, while Wales have been placed against Belgium. Northern Ireland will play the winner of the Germany vs. Italy quarterfinal, while the Republic of Ireland will play the victor of that match.
There are 16 teams who advance to the World Cup from the 12 groups (six groups of five and six groups of four) that make up the European qualifying phase. Four playoff teams and the twelve group winners will advance. 12 group runners-up and four Nations League teams will be progressing through to the playoffs.
UEFA World Cup qualifying draw
🏴🦁 England were placed in a group with Serbia as the draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Europe took place on Friday ⚽️pic.twitter.com/tHDrKlNP5x
— BeSoccer (@besoccer_com) December 13, 2024
Group A: Winner of Germany/Italy, Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg
Group B: Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia, Kosovo
Group C: Loser of Portugal/Denmark, Greece, Scotland, Belarus
Group D: Winner of France/Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Azerbaijan
Group E: Winner of Spain/Netherlands, Turkey, Georgia, Bulgaria
Group F: Winner of Portugal/Denmark, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Armenia
Group G: Loser of Spain/Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Malta
Group H: Austria, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, San Marino
Group I: Loser of Germany/Italy, Norway, Israel, Estonia, Moldova
Group J: Belgium, Wales, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein
Group K: England, Serbia, Albania, Latvia, Andorra
Group L: Loser of France/Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar
How does qualification for the 2026 World Cup operate?
Six groups of four, six groups of five, the group allocation of a lot of the top seeds still to be decided…The draw for UEFA’s World Cup qualifiers.
More details:https://t.co/onZXw4sGPw pic.twitter.com/3HBVxaNyzV
— FotMob (@FotMob) December 13, 2024
Due to the expanded World Cup, which will see 48 nations compete in the United States instead of 32 in previous editions, there are more groups populated with fewer teams for European qualifying than previously. Six of the twelve qualifying groups consist of five teams, while the remaining six contain four teams.
The qualifying campaign for the national teams placed in a group of five will commence in March, whereas the groups of four won’t begin play until September. However, the matches will be ending in November 2025. With the 12 teams who place first in their group automatically qualifying for 2026, a total of 16 teams will advance to the next World Cup.
Reason behind uneven number of teams in certain groups?
Since the Nations League finals are scheduled for June, the four national teams that advance from the March Nations League quarterfinals will be placed in the four-team groups. The four-team groupings will not start their World Cup qualifying campaign until September because to their participation in the Nations League early next year and their potential in June.
In an effort to prevent fixture postponements, bad weather also affected who played who. Estonia, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Norway are not allowed to have more than two teams in the same group. Geographical constraints also limited the opponents that remote Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Iceland could play against.
This is because UEFA wants to prevent too many lengthy, taxing journeys across Europe, and politically, Gibraltar and Spain, as well as Ukraine and Belarus, cannot be placed in the same group. Likewise, Kosovo could not be included with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia.
When will the games start?
With games planned in June, September, and October, the qualifying campaign will start in March and last through November. The play-offs will be played in the month of March, 2026. The tournament will begin on 11th of June, 2026 in Mexico City.
March 21-25
June 6-10
September 4-9
October 9-14
November 13-18
The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers draw has determined groupings, with teams set to compete in a round-robin format. Matches kick off in March 2025. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
