1. World Cup 2026
2. Qualification
3. Qualification draw

World Cup 2026 qualification draw

The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is an exciting moment for football fans worldwide. In this article, you'll find everything about the procedures, pot allocations, and their significance for UEFA teams.

Discover when and where the draw will take place and how the road to the world's biggest football tournament looks. Perfect for fans who don't want to miss a thing! 

World Cup Qualification Draw Results

These are the results of the World Cup qualification draw on December 13, 2024.

Group A

• Winner Germany-Italy (UNL QF4)
• Slovakia
• Northern Ireland
• Luxembourg

Group B

• Switzerland
• Sweden
• Slovenia
• Kosovo

Group C

• Loser Portugal-Denmark (UNL QF3)
• Greece
• Scotland
• Belarus

Group D

• Winner France-Croatia (UNL QF2)
• Ukraine
• Iceland
• Azerbaijan

Group E

• Winner Spain-Netherlands (UNL QF1)
• Turkey
• Georgia
• Bulgaria

Group F

• Winner Portugal-Denmark (UNL QF3)
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Armenia

Group G

• Loser Spain-Netherlands (UNL QF1)
• Poland
• Finland
• Lithuania
• Malta

Group H

• Austria
• Romania
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Cyprus
• San Marino

Group I

• Loser Germany-Italy (UNL QF4)
• Norway
• Israel
• Estonia
• Moldova

Group J

• Belgium
• Wales
• North Macedonia
• Kazakhstan
• Liechtenstein

Group K

• England
• Serbia
• Albania
• Latvia
• Andorra

Group L

• Loser France-Croatia (UNL QF2)
• Czech Republic
• Montenegro
• Faroe Islands
• Gibraltar

Where and when is the World Cup qualifying draw?

The draw will take place on 13 December 2024 at 11:00 pm. The draw will be broadcast live from FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

2026 World Cup draw pots - England in Pot 1

Here are the draw pots for the 2026 World Cup draw with England in Pot 1:

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
Macedonia
Georgia
Finland
Iceland
Northern Ireland
Montenegro
Bosnia and Herz.
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

To draw the 12 groups of four or five teams each, five draw pots have been formed. Pots 1 to 4 each contain 12 teams, while the remaining six teams are placed in Pot 5.

Pot 1: The eight UEFA Nations League (UNL) quarter-finalists are seeded in Pot 1, regardless of their position in the FIFA World Ranking applicable for the draw. The UNL quarter-finalists are represented by placeholders during the draw. Each placeholder represents either the winner or the losing team of a quarter-final match. The UNL quarter-final pairings were drawn by UEFA on 22 November 2024. The remaining four teams in Pot 1 are the highest-ranked teams in the FIFA World Ranking not involved in the UNL quarter-finals.

Pots 2-5: The teams not allocated to Pot 1 are assigned to Pots 2 through 5 based on the FIFA World Ranking.

Procedure of the UEFA Qualification Draw

The draw starts with Pot 1 and then continues with Pot 2 through to Pot 5. Each pot is emptied entirely before moving to the next pot.

• As a rule, and for each pot, the teams drawn are assigned in ascending alphabetical order from Group A to Group L.
• Since Pot 5 contains only six teams, these teams are assigned to the fifth positions in Groups G to L.
• When a draw condition applies or is anticipated to apply, the drawn team is assigned to the next available group.

Conditions of the Qualification Draw

To create a schedule that accommodates the overlap of the European Qualification and the Nations League in March and June 2025, is fair for the participating teams, meets the expectations of commercial partners, and ensures with a high probability that the matches can take place as scheduled, various draw conditions apply for: "competition-related reasons," "prohibited team clashes," "winter venue restrictions," and "excessive travel restrictions ^[ref]."

When a draw restriction occurs or is anticipated to occur, the computer used during the draw will indicate the group into which the drawn team can be placed.

It is important to note that the number of options available for a team depends not only on the attributes of the team itself and those of the teams already drawn but also on the attributes of the other teams yet to be drawn. Therefore, computer calculations must predict all possible scenarios and prevent a deadlock situation.

Competition-Related Reasons

To facilitate the parallel scheduling of World Cup qualification and Nations League matches in March and June 2025, the following conditions apply for allocating teams into groups of four or five:

Pot 1: The four UNL quarter-final winners (one placeholder for each UNL quarter-final match) must be allocated to a group of four (Groups A to F). The UNL quarter-final losers (one placeholder for each UNL quarter-final match) and all other teams from Pot 1 can be allocated to any group (Groups A to L).

Pots 2, 3, and 4: The UNL play-off participants from these pots can be allocated to groups of four (Groups A to F) or groups of five (Groups G to L), provided the respective group can accommodate a UNL play-off team. Each group of five can contain a maximum of one UNL play-off team or one UNL quarter-final loser.

Pot 5: The teams from Pot 5 are allocated to groups of five (Groups G to L).

Prohibited Team Pairings

Based on the decisions of the UEFA Executive Committee at the time of the draw, the following teams cannot be placed in the same group:

• Gibraltar / Spain
• Kosovo / Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Kosovo / Serbia
• Ukraine / Belarus

The following draw condition applies: If a conflict occurs or could occur, the drawn team will be placed in the first available group in alphabetical order as determined by the computer.

Winter Venue Restrictions

Several countries have been identified as venues with a high or medium risk of severe winter conditions. To minimize the risk of matches being affected or not being completed, a maximum of two such countries can be placed in the same group:

• Estonia
• Faroe Islands
• Finland
• Iceland
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Norway

Iceland and the Faroe Islands have the highest risk of severe winter conditions. To avoid disruptions to the match schedule, these two teams shall not be placed in the same group.

The following draw conditions apply:

• If a team from this list is drawn into a group that already contains two such countries, that team will be placed in the first available group in alphabetical order as determined by the computer.
• If Iceland or the Faroe Islands are drawn into a group that already contains the other team, that team will be placed in the first available group in alphabetical order as determined by the computer.

Excessive Travel Restrictions

Twenty country pairs have been identified with excessive travel distances. To minimize the travel burden on teams, a maximum of one such pair can be placed in the same group. The following restrictions apply in both directions:

To Kazakhstan (Astana) from:

• Andorra (Barcelona, Spain)
• England (London)
• France (Paris)
• Gibraltar
• Iceland (Reykjavik)
• Malta (Valletta)
• Northern Ireland (Belfast)
• Portugal (Lisbon)
• Republic of Ireland (Dublin)
• Scotland (Edinburgh)
• Spain (Madrid)
• Wales (Cardiff)

To Azerbaijan (Baku) from:

• Gibraltar
• Iceland (Reykjavik)
• Portugal (Lisbon)

To Iceland (Reykjavik) from:

• Armenia (Yerevan)
• Cyprus (Larnaca)

The following draw condition applies: If a team from this list is drawn into a group that already contains two such pairs, the team will be placed in the first available group in alphabetical order as determined by the computer.

Participants of the World Cup Draw

All 54 European members of FIFA are allowed to participate in the World Cup draw. Below is a list of countries participating in the European qualification for the 2026 World Cup.

• Albania
• Andorra
• Armenia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• England
• Estonia
• Faroe Islands
• Finland
• France
• Georgia
• Germany
• Gibraltar
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Israel
• Italy
• Kazakhstan
• Kosovo
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Moldova
• Montenegro
• Netherlands
• Macedonia
• Northern Ireland
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Republic of Ireland
• Romania
• Russia (suspended)
• San Marino
• Scotland
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Turkey
• Ukraine
• Wales

It is currently unclear whether Russia will be excluded from participation by UEFA due to the war in Ukraine.

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World Cup 2026 qualifying draw will take place in Miami or Washington DC. International airports make visiting the qualifying draw easier.

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