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2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

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2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Tournament details
Dates21 March 2025 – 31 March 2026
TeamsMaximum of 55 (from 1 confederation)
2022
2030

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.

Entrants

All 55 FIFA-affiliated national teams from UEFA are able to submit an entry into qualification; however, Russia were suspended indefinitely on 28 February 2022 from participating in UEFA and FIFA competitions due to their country's invasion of Ukraine; therefore, it is unclear whether they will compete in the UEFA section of World Cup qualification.[1]

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,[2] 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 which finished outside the top two of their qualifying group.[3] On 28 June 2023, the UEFA Executive Committee formally recommended the qualification format to FIFA,[4] which was later approved.[5][6]

  • 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.[7] Teams drawn into groups of five will play their first matches in March 2025. Teams drawn into groups of four will play their first matches in September 2025.[3][8]

Round Matchday Dates
Groups of five Groups of four
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 Matchday 1 4–6 September 2025
Matchday 6 Matchday 2 7–9 September 2025
Matchday 7 Matchday 3 9–11 October 2025
Matchday 8 Matchday 4 12–14 October 2025
Matchday 9 Matchday 5 13–15 November 2025
Matchday 10 Matchday 6 16–18 November 2025
Second round
(play-offs)
Semi-finals 26 March 2026
Finals 31 March 2026

First round

Seeding

The draw for the first round (group stage) will be held on December 2024.[9]

The following restrictions were applied with computer assistance:

  • Nations League engagement: the 24 best teams participating in matchdays 7 and 8 of the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League will guarantee to be drawn into groups with only four teams (Groups A–F). This list includes: 1st, 2nd and 3rd classified teams in League A, 2nd and 3rd classified in League B, and 2nd classified ones in League C. Consequently, the six groups with five teams (Groups G-L) will be composed by the remaining 30 teams.
  • Prohibited clashes: For political reasons, matches between following pairs of teams will considere prohibited clashes, unable to be drawn into the same group: Kosovo–Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo–Serbia, Kosovo–Russia, Russia–Ukraine. Additionally, Armenia–Azerbaijan and Gibraltar–Spain will be identified as prohibited clashes, but the teams in the former pair were in the same pot for the draw, while the teams in the latter pair were restricted to different-sized groups based on draw pots and conditions.
  • Winter venues: A maximum of two teams whose venues will be identified as having high or medium risk of severe winter conditions could be placed in each group: Belarus, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Ukraine.
    • The two "hard winter venues" (Faroe Islands and Iceland) generally cannot host games in March or November, and therefore cannot be drawn together; the others shall play as few home matches as possible in March and November.
  • Excessive travel: A maximum of one pair of teams will be identified with excessive travel distance in relation to other countries could be placed in each group:
    • Azerbaijan: with Iceland, Gibraltar, Portugal.
    • Iceland: with Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel.
    • Kazakhstan: with England, France, Gibraltar, Iceland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales.

Teams will allocate to seeding pots as follows (November 2024 FIFA Rankings shown in second column).

Pot 1
Team Rank
Pot 2
Team Rank
Pot 3
Team Rank
Pot 4
Team Rank
Pot 5
Team Rank

References

  1. ^ "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  2. ^ "FIFA Council prepares Congress, takes key decisions for the future of the FIFA World Cup". FIFA. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b "New formats for UEFA men's national team competitions approved". UEFA. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Lisbon to host UEFA Women's Champions League final in 2025". UEFA. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Road to the FIFA World Cup 26 has begun". FIFA. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  6. ^ "CONMEBOL kick off journey of "great joy and happiness" to historic FIFA World Cup 2026, says FIFA President". FIFA. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Regulations of the UEFA Nations League, 2024/25" (PDF). UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 11 December 2023. Annex A – 2024–26 National Team Match Calendar. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  8. ^ "New formats for UEFA men's national team competitions" (PDF). UEFA. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  9. ^ "FIFA World Cup 2026: UEFA Nations League to get more importance in qualifying draw". sportstar.thehindu.com. 4 September 2024.