UEFA Preliminary FIFA WC Draw Sees Titanic Clashes
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.
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
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.
Argentina are the defending champions after beating France in a highly charged final in Qatar 2022.
