2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 21 March 2025 – 31 March 2026 |
| Teams | 54 (from 1 confederation) |
← 2022 2030 → | |
| UEFA European Qualifiers |
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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,[1] 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.[2] On 28 June 2023, the UEFA Executive Committee formally recommended the qualification format to FIFA,[3] which was later approved.[4][5]
- 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.[6] Groups of five will begin in March 2025, while groups of four will begin in September 2025.[2][7]
| 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 | ||
Draw
The draw for the first round (group stage) will be held on 13 December 2024, 12:00 CET, at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.[8][9][10][11] 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[note 1] due to suspension from UEFA and FIFA competitions following their country's invasion of Ukraine.[12][13]
The teams will be seeded into five pots: Pots 1 to 4 will each contain twelve teams, and Pot 5 will contain six teams. FIFA, in consultation with UEFA, will announce the allocation of teams to the five pots following the completion of the league phase of the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League. The teams will be drawn into twelve groups: six groups of four teams (Groups 1–6) and six groups of five teams (Groups 7–12).[14]
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 28 teams will be competing in the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League in March 2025 (8 in the League A quarter-finals and 20 in the 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 can 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 must therefore be drawn into four-team groups.[14]
Given these conditions, Pot 1 will contain the eight Nations League quarter-finalists, regardless of their position in the FIFA Men's World Ranking of November 2024. The quarter-finalists will be represented by placeholders in the draw, denoting the winners and losers of each quarter-final pairing.[note 2] The four remaining teams in Pot 1 will be the next best-ranked teams in the FIFA Men's World Ranking of November 2024. In principle, the remaining teams will be allocated to Pots 2 to 5 based on the FIFA Men's World Ranking. However, adjustments to Pots 2 to 5 may be required depending on the number of teams needing the March 2025 window for the Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs.
Should a given draw pot include more Nations League play-off teams than the maximum number of qualifying groups able to contain such teams, a pot adjustment will be made. Such an adjustment will follow these principles:
- A pot swap will be made between the lowest-ranked Nations League play-off participant of the pot in question and the highest-ranked compatible team of the lower pot.
- The same procedure applies if an additional swap is required in the same pot or another pot.
This seeding method differs from previous cycles, as all World Cup qualifying group draws since 2010 have been seeded based solely on the FIFA Men's World Ranking.
Draw procedure
The draw will start with Pot 1 and complete with Pot 5. A team will be drawn and assigned to the first available group (based on draw conditions) in numerical order. Each five-team group will contain one team from each of the five pots, while each four-team group will contain one team from each of the first four pots.[14]
The following restrictions will be applied with computer assistance:
- Competition-related reasons:
- The four teams participating in the 2025 UEFA Nations League Finals (identified as the winners of quarter-finals 1–4) will be guaranteed to be drawn into four-team groups (Groups 1–6).
- Depending on the pot distribution of Nations League play-off teams, Pot 1 teams not involved in Nations League matches in March may need to be drawn into five-team groups (Groups 7–12).[note 3]
- Nations League play-off teams from Pots 2 to 4 are prioritised for allocation to four-team groups (Groups 1–6).[note 4] If a play-off team is in Pot 5, they will be drawn into a five-team group (Groups 7–12) capable of accommodating such a team.
- Additionally, teams not involved in Nations League matches in March from Pots 2 to 4 may be required to be drawn into five-team groups (Groups 7–12) to ensure a sufficient number of groups are available to contain Nations League play-off teams from the same or subsequent pots.[note 5]
- Prohibited clashes: For political reasons, matches between the following pairs of teams are considered prohibited clashes and cannot be drawn into the same group: Armenia–Azerbaijan, Belarus–Ukraine, Gibraltar–Spain, Kosovo–Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo–Serbia.
- Winter venues: A maximum of two teams whose venues are identified as having high or medium risk of severe winter conditions can be placed in each group: Belarus, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Ukraine.[note 6]
- The two "hard winter venues" (Faroe Islands and Iceland) generally cannot host games in March or November, and therefore could not 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 identified with excessive travel distance in relation to other countries can be placed in each group:
- Azerbaijan: with Gibraltar, Iceland, Portugal.
- Iceland: with Armenia, Cyprus, Georgia, Israel.
- Kazakhstan: with Andorra, England, Faroe Islands, France, Gibraltar, Iceland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales.
Seeding pots
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Key
- QF Nations League quarter-finalist, automatically seeded into Pot 1 and unavailable during the March 2025 window
- PO Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs participant that is unavailable during the March 2025 window
First round
The group stage schedule will be confirmed by UEFA shortly after the draw.[10]
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.[15]
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.[15]
The table below shows the order in which teams will be selected based on the UEFA Nations League interim overall ranking.[note 7]
| UNL | Rank | Team | Qualifying group | |
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| Nations League group winners | ||||
| A | 1 |  Spain
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(X) | |
| 2 |  Germany
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(X) | ||
| 3 |  Portugal
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(X) | ||
| 4 |  France
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(X) | ||
| B | 17 |  England
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| 18 |  Norway
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| 19 |  Wales
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| 20 |  Czech Republic
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| C | 33 |  Romania
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| 34 |  Sweden
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| 35 |  North Macedonia
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| 36 |  Northern Ireland
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| D | 49 |  Moldova
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| 50 |  San Marino
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| Nations League remaining teams | ||||
| A | 5 |  Italy
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| 6 |  Netherlands
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| 7 |  Denmark
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| 8 |  Croatia
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| 9 |  Scotland
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| 10 |  Serbia
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| 11 |  Hungary
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| 12 |  Belgium
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| 13 |  Poland
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| 14 |  Israel
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| 15 |  Switzerland
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| 16 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina
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| B | 21 |  Greece
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| 22 |  Austria
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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:[15]
- 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) |
Notes
- ^ A circular distributed by UEFA on 11 November 2024 stated 192 group stage matches would take place, confirming Russia's exclusion from the tournament.[10]
- ^ As there are only six four-team groups available for the eight quarter-finalists, and the identity of the 2025 UEFA Nations League Finals participants will not be known at the time of the World Cup qualifying draw, the eight quarter-finalists will be represented as the winners or losers of quarter-finals 1–4.
- ^ Additional conditions may be added to Pot 1 teams to ensure that one or more five-team groups are available to contain Nations League play-off teams drawn from the subsequent pots.
- ^ If a pot contains more Nations League play-off teams than available four-team groups, the play-off team(s) will be allocated to five-team groups (Groups 7–12) able to contain such teams.
- ^ Such conditions will be announced by FIFA, in consultation with UEFA, ahead of the draw.
- ^ Belarus and/or Ukraine will be removed from this draw restriction should the requirement they play at neutral venues remain in force at the time of the draw.
- ^ The table lists teams down to the lowest-ranked team that could potentially have received a play-off spot following the group stage draw.
References
- ^ "FIFA Council prepares Congress, takes key decisions for the future of the FIFA World Cup". FIFA. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ^ a b "New formats for UEFA men's national team competitions approved". UEFA. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- ^ "Lisbon to host UEFA Women's Champions League final in 2025". UEFA. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
- ^ "Road to the FIFA World Cup 26 has begun". FIFA. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "New formats for UEFA men's national team competitions" (PDF). UEFA. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
- ^ "European Qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup: All you need to know". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 16 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
- ^ "Everything you need to know about UEFA qualifying". FIFA. 15 October 2024. Retrieved 18 October 2024.
- ^ a b c "Draw procedure for the UEFA Nations League 2024/25 knockout stage and play-off draw – Fixture list procedure for the European Qualifiers 2024–26" (ZIP). UEFA Circular Letter. No. 64/2024. Union of European Football Associations. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ "UEFA Preliminary Draw for FIFA World Cup 26 to take place on 13 December". FIFA. 19 November 2024. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
- ^ "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". FIFA. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b c "Draw Procedures for the UEFA Preliminary Draw for the FIFA World Cup 26" (PDF). FIFA. September 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
- ^ a b c "UEFA Preliminary Competition for the FIFA World Cup 26 – Additional Competition Information" (PDF). FIFA. September 2024. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
External links
- Official FIFA World Cup website
- Qualifiers – UEFA, FIFA.com
- European Qualifiers, UEFA.com
- 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
- 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
- FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
- 2024–25 in UEFA football
- 2025–26 in UEFA football
- March 2025 sports events in Europe
- June 2025 sports events in Europe
- September 2025 sports events in Europe
- October 2025 sports events in Europe
- November 2025 sports events in Europe
- March 2026 sports events in Europe