FIFA has approved the seeding and the draw procedure for the qualifying tournament for the 2026 World Cup (including for Europe), which will take place on December 13.
54 national teams will participate in the European qualifiers. They are all divided into 5 pots (the first four pots have 12 teams each, and the fifth has 6).
According to the regulations, the first pot includes the top 8 teams based on the results of the group stage of the current Nations League in Division “A” (Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain), as well as 4 teams that currently have the highest positions in the FIFA ranking.
The remaining pots are formed according to the current positions of the teams in the FIFA ranking. The Ukrainian national team ended up in the second pot.
As a result of the draw, 12 groups will be formed with 4-5 teams in each.
Composition of pots for the qualifying tournament draw for the 2026 World Cup in Europe
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
Northern 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.
Let us remind you that the qualifying cycle for the 2026 World Cup will begin in March 2025 — at this time, the first matches of the tournament will take place in groups of five teams. And in September 2025, the competition will also start in other groups. The group stage of the qualifiers will conclude in November 2025.
The 12 group winners from the qualifying cycle will receive direct tickets to the final part of the 2026 World Cup. The 12 teams that finish second in their groups, as well as the 4 best group winners of the 2024/25 Nations League that are ranked below second place in the 2026 World Cup qualifying groups, will form the playoff round, in which the remaining 4 spots for the World Cup will be contested.
And the World Cup itself in 2026 will take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026, on the football fields of the USA, Canada, and Mexico. For the first time in the world championship, 48 teams will participate.
