At noon this Friday, the draw of the European teams for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, which will take place in the United States, Canada and Mexico, has been made. The goggles have brought interesting confrontations between which the "duel" that was once abandoned due to a drone, that between Albania and Serbia. However, some of the teams have not been fully determined, due to the playoff games of the Nations League, writes A2 CNN.
SHORT:
GROUP A, Winner Germany-Italy, Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg
GROUP B, Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia, Kosovo
GROUP C, Loser Portugal-Denmark, Greece, Scotland, Belarus
GROUP D Winner France-Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Azerbaijan
GROUP E, Winner Spain-Netherlands, Turkey, Georgia, Bulgaria
GROUP F, Winner of Portugal-Denmark, Hungary, Ireland, Armenia
GROUP G Loser Spain-Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Malta
GROUP H, Austria, Romania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus, San Marino
GROUP I, Loser Germany-Italy, Norway, Israel, Estonia, Moldova
GROUP J, Belgium, Wales, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein
GROUP K, England, Serbia, ALBANIA, Latvia, Andorra
GROUP L, Loser of France-Croatia, Rep. Czech Republic, Montenegro, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar
How does the scheme work?
Six of the groups have four teams and six groups have five teams. The teams will play against each other, both at home and away, as usual.
The team that finishes first in each group automatically qualifies for the World Cup, while the runners-up go into the play-offs along with four teams from the Nations League.
These 16 teams participating in the play-offs will be divided into pots based on their group results and will be drawn for four routes with semi-finals and a single-leg final.
When will the matches take place?
The matches will take place during 5 spaces for international meetings, on the following dates:
March 21-25, 2025
June 6-10, 2025
September 4-9, 2025
October 9-14, 2025
November 13-18, 2025
However, no team will play World Cup qualifiers on all these dates, as the maximum number of matches is eight. They can play friendly on free dates.
Some teams will start in March, others in June, while the four-team groups won't start until September.
The teams that win the Nations League quarter-finals will not take part in the World Cup qualifiers until September.
The play-off matches will take place from 26 to 31 March 2026.
When and where will the World Cup take place?
The World Cup will start on June 11, 2026 in Mexico City and end on July 19 in New Jersey.
This expanded 48-team tournament will last 39 days, a record for the tournament.
The new format will include 12 groups of four teams and a 32-team knockout stage for the first time. (A2 Televizion)
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