The road to the FIFA World Cup 26™ has been mapped out for Europe’s 54 hopefuls at the UEFA Preliminary Draw in Zurich.
A record-high number of 16 places are up for grabs for UEFA representatives at the historic 48-team showpiece in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
FIFA World Cup 26 qualifying: All you need to know
Eight of the 12 sections will only have a confirmed Pot 1 team after March’s UEFA Nations League (UNL) quarter-finals, as outlined in more detail in the draw procedures.
Nonetheless, enthralling encounters are already guaranteed, with England-Serbia, Switzerland-Sweden and Belgium-Wales just a few of the mouth-watering matches in store.
FIFA World Cup 26™: UEFA Preliminary Draw results
Changes to the number of places
The 2026 World Cup will be held in North America and for the first time, 48 teams will compete in the final stages of the World Cup, while the number of places in Europe has increased from 13 to 16.
Rules for the teams participating in the European Groups play-offs for the World Cup:
The European Groups Play-Offs will be divided into 4 groups of 4 teams each, for a total of 16 teams. Each group will have 2 semi-finals and 1 final, all with a single match tie-breaker system, and the eventual winners of the 4 group finals will be awarded the final 4 World Cup places in Europe.
The 16 play-off teams consist of the 12 second-placed of European groups and the 4 best-performing UEFA Nations League 2024/25 group winners (provided that these teams have neither advanced directly to the World Cup as European Groups winners nor have already entered the play-offs as second-placed group winners).
*If fewer than four eligible Nations League group toppers are selected, the remaining places will be allocated to those teams that finished at the top of the overall UEFA Nations League standings but failed to finish in the top two of their UEFA qualifying group.
Once the 16 teams for the Play-Offs have been determined, the 12 runners-up of the Europa League Qualifying Groups will be ranked from 1st to 12th according to the FIFA Men's World Ranking (to be released at the end of November 2025), while the four teams that have progressed through the Nations League for the 2024/25 season will automatically be ranked from 13th to 16th.
Pots for 2026 Wolrd Cup Qualifiers of UEFA
Pot 1: France, Spain, England, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria.
Pot 2: Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Norway.
Pot 3: Scotland, Slovenia, Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel.
Pot 4: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Kosovo, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Lithuania.
Pot 5: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino.
