World Cup 2026 qualifying draw - as it happened

World Cup 2026 qualifying draw, full results:

Group A: Winners of Germany vs Italy, Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg

Group B: Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia and Kosovo

Group C: Losers of Portugal vs Denmark, Greece, Scotland and Belarus

Group D: Winners of France vs Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland and Azerbaijan

Group E: Winners of Spain vs Netherlands, Turkiye, Georgia and Bulgaria

Group F: Winners of Portugal vs Denmark, Hungary, Republic of Ireland and Armenia

Group G: Losers of Spain vs Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Lithuania and Malta

Group H: Austria, Romania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus and San Marino

Group I: Losers of Germany vs Italy, Norway, Israel, Estonia and Moldova

Group J: Belgium, Wales, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein

Group K: England, Serbia, Albania, Lavia and Andorra

Group L: Losers of France vs Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Faroe Islands and Gibraltar

World Cup 2026 qualifying draw - We come to the end of the draw with Pot 5!

The final pot includes six teams, all of which will be placed in Groups G to L. Malta will be the first team drawn and will join Group G. San Marino will follow and be placed in Group H, while Moldova will go into Group I.

The remaining three teams will then be allocated. Andorra will be placed in Group K due to a travel restriction preventing their inclusion in Group J, completing England's group. Liechtenstein will take the spot in Group J, and finally, Gibraltar will be assigned to Group L.

World Cup 2026 qualifying draw - Pot 4 is already decided!

Next comes the Pot 4 draw. This part of the draw will complete Groups A to F, as these groups only consist of four teams. The remaining groups, G to L, will each have five teams. Luxembourg will complete Group A, while Kosovo will be drawn into Group B. Belarus will join Scotland in Group C, and Group D will be finalised with Azerbaijan.

Lithuania will be the first team drawn into one of the five-team groups, being placed in Group G. Cyprus, not involved in a Nations League play-off, will be assigned to Group H. Estonia will go into Group I, and Kazakhstan will join Group J.

Bulgaria, as a Nations League play-off side in March, will complete Group E. Latvia will join England in Group K, while the Faroe Islands will be placed in Group L. Finally, Armenia will complete Group F.

World Cup 2026 qualifying draw - Now it's Pot 3's turn!

Now it will be time for the Pot 3 draw, with a few adjustments expected. Northern Ireland will be the first team drawn and will be placed in Group A, another challenging group. Slovenia will follow and be assigned to Group B. Scotland will then go into Group C alongside Greece and Portugal or Denmark.

Finland, not involved in the March play-offs, will be placed in Group G. Bosnia and Herzegovina will be allocated to Group H, while Israel will go into Group I. North Macedonia will join Wales in Group J.

Iceland will be placed in Group D, Albania will be drawn into England's Group K, and Georgia will be assigned to Group E. Montenegro will be placed in Group L, and finally, the Republic of Ireland will be allocated to Group F.

World Cup 2026 qualifying draw - Pot 2 is now drawn!

From the Pot 2 draw, Slovakia will be placed in Group A, followed by Sweden, who will be assigned to Group B. Poland will be drawn next and must be placed in Group G.

Greece, meanwhile, will go into Group C, while Ukraine will be eligible for placement in Group D. Turkey will quickly be assigned to Group E, and Hungary will be placed in Group F.

Romania will be allocated to Group H, with Norway following and going into Group I. Wales will then join Belgium in Group J, creating a challenging pairing. Serbia will be drawn into England's group, Group K, and finally, the Czech Republic will be assigned to Group L.

World Cup 2026 qualifying draw - Pot 1 has been drawn!

The Nations League play-offs and quarter-finals will determine the allocation of several teams in this pot. The winners of Germany vs Italy match in March will be placed in Group A, while Switzerland will follow and be assigned to Group B. Portugal and Denmark are set to compete in a Nations League quarter-final, with the losing team allocated to Group C.

The defeated side from the Spain vs Netherlands quarter-final will be placed in Group G, as they cannot be assigned to Groups D, E, or F. Similarly, Austria cannot be drawn into these groups and will instead be placed in Group H.

The team that loses the Germany vs Italy quarter-final will be placed in Group I, while Belgium will be drawn into Group J. Finally, England will be allocated to Group K, a placement likely to draw attention as the draw progresses.

World Cup 2026 qualifying draw - The event begins in Zurich

After a short video on the World Cup's importance in the world of sport, FIFA president Gianni Infantino gave a short speech to introduce the draw.

World Cup 2026 qualifying draw - Who will the Three Lions face?

England was knocked out in the quarter-finals by France at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. As a result, they will be hoping to go much further in the United States, Mexico and Canada, with German coach Thomas Tuchel at the helm.

 

December 13, 2024

World Cup 2026 qualifying draw - Draw procedure

The draw begins with Pot 1 and proceeds sequentially through Pot 5, with each pot being emptied before moving to the next. Teams are assigned to groups in ascending alphabetical order (Groups A to L). As Pot 5 contains only six teams, these are assigned to the fifth positions in Groups G to L. If a draw condition applies, the affected team is placed in the next available group.

World Cup 2026 qualifying draw - Preliminary competition format

Group stage match dates: March to November 2025

Play-off match dates: 26-31 March 2026

2026 FIFA World Cup: 11 June to 19 July 2026

In UEFA's revised national team competition structure, the European Qualifiers (EQ) for the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the expanded UEFA Nations League (UNL) 2024/25 will run concurrently during the international windows in March and June 2025.

The EQ group stage will take place from March to November 2025, featuring ten matchdays across five international windows. There will be 12 qualifying groups, each containing four or five teams. Groups with five teams will start in March 2025, while those with four teams will begin in September 2025. All groups will conclude their campaigns by November 2025.

At the same time, 24 teams will compete in the UNL quarter-finals in March 2025, aiming for promotion/relegation play-offs and a place in the UNL finals in June 2025. To coordinate the EQ and UNL schedules, specific conditions apply to the allocation of teams. Groups with four teams will be fully available for UNL matches in March and June, while one team from each group of five may use its rest days to participate in the UNL.

As in previous EQ cycles, group-stage matches will follow the traditional home-and-away league format and adhere to the "week of football" concept. Matches will be played over two matchdays within a six-day period (Thursday to Tuesday) during the international match calendar.

UEFA will release the EQ fixture list after the qualifying draw.

World Cup 2026 qualifying draw - Let's take a look at the five draw pots

The 54 UEFA member associations are involved in the competition.

Pot 1: France, Spain, England, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland, Denmark, and Austria

Pot 2: Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Norway

Pot 3: Scotland, Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Israel

Pot 4: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Kosovo, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia and Lithuania

Pot 5: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein and San Marino

World Cup 2026 qualifying draw - All set in Zurich!

Good morning all - and welcome to everyone from FIFA Headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Starting at 12.00 CET, we will follow together Friday's draw to determine the UEFA qualifying groups for the 2026 World Cup, hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.