UEFA Preliminary Draw tees up titanic tussles

UEFA Preliminary Draw tees up titanic tussles

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.

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. 

FIFA World Cup 26™: UEFA Preliminary Draw results

Group A

Winner Italy - Germany (UNL QF4)

Slovakia

Northern Ireland

Luxembourg

Group B

Switzerland

Sweden

Slovenia

Kosovo

Group C

Defeated team Denmark - Portugal (UNL QF3)

Greece

Scotland

Belarus

Group D

Winner Croatia - France (UNL QF2)

Ukraine

Iceland

Azerbaijan

Group E

Winner Netherlands - Spain (UNL QF1)

Türkiye

Georgia

Bulgaria

Group F

Winner Denmark - Portugal (UNL QF3)

Hungary

Republic of Ireland

Armenia

Group G

Defeated team Netherlands - Spain (UNL QF1)

Poland

Finland

Lithuania

Malta

Group H

Austria

Romania

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Cyprus

San Marino

Group I

Defeated team Italy - Germany (UNL QF4)

Norway

Israel

Estonia

Moldova

Group J

Belgium

Wales

North Macedonia

Kazakhstan

Liechtenstein

Group K

England

Serbia

Albania

Latvia

Andorra

Group L

Defeated team Croatia - France (UNL QF2)

Czechia

Montenegro

Faroe Islands

Gibraltar

The UEFA qualifying group stage will begin in March 2025 and conclude in November 2025. It will follow a familiar format, with 12 groups of four or five teams, and the group winners securing a place at the FIFA World Cup™.

The four remaining places will then be decided in March 2026 in a 16-team UEFA play-off involving the 12 group-stage runners-up and the four best-ranked UEFA Nations League 2024-25 group winners that have neither qualified directly for the FIFA World Cup as group winners nor entered the play-offs already as group runners-up.