2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
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Get ready for the road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup! The European qualifiers are here, and this time, there's more at stake than ever. With an expanded tournament featuring 16 slots for UEFA teams, the competition is heating up for national teams across the continent, all vying for a spot in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
A brand new format, confirmed in January 2023, is set to deliver thrilling encounters. We've got six groups of four teams and six groups of five. The winners of each group secure direct qualification, while the second-placed teams, along with the top four performers from the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League who didn't finish in the top two of their qualifying group, will battle it out in a dramatic play-off stage. Sixteen teams will enter this play-off round, split into four paths, each featuring semi-finals and a final, all in single-leg showdowns. The four victorious path winners will claim the remaining World Cup berths.
The journey began with groups of five kicking off in March 2025, followed by groups of four starting in September 2025. The draw, held on December 13, 2024, in Zurich, saw 54 of UEFA's 55 member associations enter the fray, with Russia's entry invalidated. Teams were carefully seeded into five pots, with the allocation influenced by the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League results. This unique structure ensures that teams involved in Nations League matches have their World Cup qualifying schedules accommodated, leading to staggered start dates for different group sizes.
The seeding method itself was a complex dance, taking into account Nations League commitments. Pot 1, for instance, was a mix of Nations League quarter-finalists and top-ranked teams, ensuring a competitive balance. Restrictions were in place to manage scheduling, prevent political clashes like Belarus versus Ukraine, and mitigate the impact of winter conditions and excessive travel.
The group stage fixtures were confirmed on December 13, 2024, setting the stage for an intense qualification campaign.
Looking ahead, the play-offs will be a nail-biting affair. Sixteen teams – the twelve group runners-up and the four best Nations League group winners outside the top two of their qualifying group – will be drawn into four paths. Seeding will be crucial, with group runners-up placed in pots based on the November 2025 FIFA Men's World Ranking, and Nations League qualifiers automatically heading to pot 4. The semi-finals will see seeded teams host, and the final hosts will be decided by a draw. Prohibited clashes remain a key consideration, ensuring fairness and avoiding political sensitivities.
As of October 11, 2025, 398 goals have been scored in 120 matches, averaging a thrilling 3.32 goals per game. We've seen some incredible individual performances, with top scorers putting their teams on their backs.
The road to the 2026 World Cup hasn't been without its moments, including a controversy during the draw where a map of Ukraine omitted Crimea, leading to an apology from FIFA. In Group I, there were also calls for investigations and protests related to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, highlighting the powerful intersection of sport and global events.
Stay tuned for all the drama, passion, and unforgettable moments as Europe battles for its place on the world's biggest football stage!
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 features six groups of four and six groups of 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): Six groups of four and six groups 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): 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) began in March 2025, while groups of four teams (Groups A–F) began in September 2025.
== 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; Russia's entry was invalidated by their suspension from UEFA and FIFA competitions after 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 features staggered starting dates. Five-team groups began in March 2025, while four-team groups started in September 2025. As 24 teams would 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 played among themselves during this window. Additionally, as the four quarter-final winners would compete in the 2025 UEFA Nations League Finals in June, they could not 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.
Key
== First round ==
The group stage fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 13 December 2024 following the draw.
=== Group A ===
=== Group B ===
=== Group C ===
=== Group D ===
=== Group E ===
=== Group F ===
=== Group G ===
=== Group H ===
=== Group I ===
=== Group J ===
=== Group K ===
=== Group L ===
== 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 four best-ranked 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-ranked 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.
Updated to match(es) played on 11 October 2025
Key
† Team is currently in top two of qualifying group
‡ Team is currently in a position to advance to the play-offs as one of the best four Nations League group winners outside top two of their qualifying group
(X) Team is assured at least a play-off spot based on Nations League ranking
(Z) Team will finish outside top two of qualifying group, and can only advance to play-offs based on Nations League ranking
Team will not advance to play-offs via the Nations League ranking
(W) Team will finish in top two of qualifying group
(N) Team cannot advance to play-offs based on Nations League ranking, but can still finish in top two of qualifying group
=== 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.
== Top goalscorers ==
There have been 398 goals scored in 120 matches, for an average of 3.32 goals per match (as of 11 October 2025).
12 goals
6 goals
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
Below are full goalscorer lists for all groups:
== Controversies ==
During the draw on 13 December 2024, when Ukraine was drawn, the map of the country did not include the disputed area of Crimea, which led to outrage from the Ukrainian Association of Football. FIFA later apologised for the incident.
In Group I, the Norwegian Football Federation reportedly requested an investigation into Israel's actions in Gaza during the Gaza war. In the same group, during Estonia–Israel qualification match, Estonian fans waved a banner targeting Israeli captain Eli Dasa who played for Russian club FC Dynamo Moscow from 2022 to 2025. The banner was removed on request by UEFA. Also in the same group, the Italian Football Coaches' Association called for Israel to be suspended prior to the Italy–Israel qualification match.
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Official FIFA World Cup website
Qualifiers – UEFA, FIFA.com
European Qualifiers, UEFA.com
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