World Cup 2026: The UEFA qualifying groups in full

World Cup 2026 is coming, with the UEFA qualifying groups decided on Friday 13 December 2024. Unlucky for some, of course.

The tournament will be held in North America, as Canada, the United States and Mexico put on the first World Cup ever hosted by three separate nations. Mexico will become the first nation to have hosted three, while the US will mark 32 years since they hosted in ’94: it’s Canada’s first go.

In another first for the Greatest Show on Earth, the World Cup will be expanded for this edition to a whopping 48 teams from across the globe. More chance of home nations getting to World Cup 2026, right?

Here’s how this works. The qualifying group stage will feature twelve groups of four or five teams, with the winner of each group automatically qualifying for the World Cup in 2026.

The second-placed teams will advance to the play-offs, along with the four best-ranked group winners from the 2024/25 Nations League, who finished outside of the top two of their World Cup qualifying group. This is designed to give the likes of San Marino a chance.

The play-off nations will be drawn into four paths, playing two rounds of single-match play-offs. The semi-finals will be drawn with the seeded teams hosting, followed by finals, with the home teams drawn. The four path winners will then qualify for the World Cup.

This all means that there will be 16 nations from the UEFA confederation at the World Cup in North America – a third of everyone there.

World Cup qualifying kicks off on March 21 2025 when the next international break rolls around. We won’t know the full line-up for the 2026 competition, however, until March 31 2026.

Is it coming home? 2026 marks 60 years since England first won the World Cup, of course…

The UEFA qualifying groups for World Cup 2026

World Cup 2026: The UEFA qualifying groups

Group A

• Germany/Italy (winning team from Nations League quarter-final)
• Slovakia
• Northern Ireland
• Luxembourg

Group B

• Switzerland
• Sweden
• Slovenia

Group C

• Portugal/Denmark (defeated team from Nations League quarter-final)
• Greece
• Scotland

Group D

• France/Croatia (winner team from Nations League quarter-final)
• Ukraine
• Iceland

Group E

• Spain/Netherlands (winning team from Nations League quarter-final)
• Turkey
• Georgia

Group F

• Portugal/Denmark (winning team from Nations League quarter-final)
• Hungary
• Republic of Ireland

Group G

• Spain/Netherlands (defeated team from Nations League quarter-final)
• Poland
• Finland

Group H

• Austria
• Romania
• Bosnia & Herzegovina

Group I

• Germany/Italy (defeated team from Nations League quarter-final)
• Norway
• Israel

Group J

• Belgium
• Wales
• North Macedonia

Group K

Group L

• France/Croatia (defeated team from Nations League quarter-final)
• Czech Republic
• Montenegro

Pots

Pot 1

1. Spain
2. Netherlands
3. France
4. Croatia
5. Portugal
6. Denmark
7. Italy
8. Germany
9. England
10. Belgium
11. Switzerland
12. Austria

Pot 2

13. Ukraine
14. Sweden
15. Turkey
16. Wales
17. Hungary
18. Serbia
19. Poland
20. Romania
21. Greece
22. Slovakia
23. Czech Republic
24. Norway

Pot 3

25. Scotland
26. Slovenia
27. Republic of Ireland
28. Albania
29. North Macedonia
30. Georgia
31. Finland
32. Iceland
33. Northern Ireland
34. Montenegro
35. Bosnia and Herzegovina
36. Israel

Pot 4

37. Bulgaria
38. Luxembourg
39. Belarus
40. Kosovo
41. Armenia
42. Kazakhstan
43. Azerbaijan
44. Estonia
45. Cyprus
46. Faroe Islands
47. Latvia
48. Lithuania

Pot 5

49. Moldova
50. Malta
51. Andorra
52. Gibraltar
53. Liechtenstein
54. San Marino

Banned from entering

Schedule