2026 UEFA WC Qualification

[JS96]

Italy Denmark Turkey Ukraine	Poland Wales Czech Republic Slovakia	Republic of Ireland Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Kosovo	Romania (NL–33) Sweden (NL–34) North Macedonia (NL–35) Northern Ireland (NL–36)

[th width="128.483px"]

Pot 1​

[/th][th width="173.556px"]

Pot 2​

[/th][th width="236.467px"]

Pot 3​

[/th][th width="187.872px"]

Pot 4 (UNL)​

[/th]​

 

[HappyGuus]

It's mental in the commentary box haha

https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/s/37JuerzuN2

 

[JS96]

Pot 1 will face pot 4. So Italy Poland Bosnia Sweden please.

Ideally Denmark, Wales, Ireland and Northern Ireland go but the draw will see some interesting combinations dashing the hopes quickly I reckon.

 

[JS96]

Oh just realised as these playoffs are March, Australia may not know their opponent until then. Annoying.

 

[JS96]

Congrats to Scotland. Absolute scenes. Can't imagine how good a beer will taste after that.

 

[NicCarBel]

Oh just realised as these playoffs are March, Australia may not know their opponent until then. Annoying.

Draw is tomorrow at least

 

[Beretta]

Pot 4 nations league, what a joke lol

Sweden, with 2 points in their group can still qualify.

Qualifications have become a joke since in the increase of the WC from 32 to 48.

 

[LFC]

Its all about the $$$ Beretta

 

[NicCarBel]

Pot 4 nations league, what a joke lol

Sweden, with 2 points in their group can still qualify.

Qualifications have become a joke since in the increase of the WC from 32 to 48.

I'd rather 48 teams, rather than Nations League counting though, to be honest.

 

[Beretta]

Bolivia is another one, finished 7th in South America, with 10 losses and into the play off lol.

 

[NicCarBel]

POTS (Subject to change with CONCACAF, although doing my best to predict/cover bases here)

POT 1

• USA
• Canada
• Mexico
• Spain
• Argentina
• France
• England
• Brazil
• Portugal
• Netherlands
• Belgium
• Germany

POT 2

• Croatia
• Morocco
• Colombia
• Uruguay
• Switzerland
• Japan
• Senegal
• Iran
• Korea
• Austria
• Ecuador
• Australia

POT 3

• Norway
• Panama *
• Egypt
• Algeria
• Paraguay
• Tunisia
• Scotland
• Ivory Coast
• Uzbekistan
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• South Africa

POT 4

• Jordan
• Cape Verde
• Ghana
• New Zealand
• CONCACAF 2*
• CONCACAF 3*
• UEFA 1
• UEFA 2
• UEFA 3
• UEFA 4
• Intercontinental 1
• Intercontinental 2

* The main things that can change around depending on CONCACAF's qualification results are (in order of FIFA Ranking) This is why I've just named CONCACAF 2 and 3 for Pot 4 - and made a prediction of Panama qualifying, as that's probably the most likely outcome:

• In Group 3 - If Costa Rica qualifies, they will be in Pot 3
• In Group 1 - If Panama qualifies, they will be Pot 3
• In Group 3 - If Honduras qualifies, they will be Pot 3

All other outcomes in CONCACAF would lead to all 3 nations being placed in Pot 4, with Jordan going into Pot 3.

 

[verrelli]

Pot 4 nations league, what a joke lol

Sweden, with 2 points in their group can still qualify.

Qualifications have become a joke since in the increase of the WC from 32 to 48.

You beat me to it. What a farce. 0 wins from Sweden across their 6 qualifying games and they're rewarded with a place in the play-offs. Absolute joke.

 

[NicCarBel]

You beat me to it. What a farce. 0 wins from Sweden across their 6 qualifying games and they're rewarded with a place in the play-offs. Absolute joke.

This fetish for playoffs by UEFA absolutely shits me.
Should have just done 8 groups with the top two qualifying.

 

[NicCarBel]

POT 1

• USA
• Canada
• Mexico
• Spain
• Argentina
• France
• England
• Brazil
• Portugal
• Netherlands
• Belgium
• Germany

POT 2

• Croatia
• Morocco
• Colombia
• Uruguay
• Switzerland
• Japan
• Senegal
• Iran
• Korea
• Austria
• Ecuador
• Australia

POT 3

• Norway
• Panama
• Egypt
• Algeria
• Paraguay
• Tunisia
• Scotland
• Ivory Coast
• Uzbekistan
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• South Africa

POT 4

• Jordan
• Cape Verde
• Ghana
• New Zealand
• Haiti
• Curacao
• UEFA 1
• UEFA 2
• UEFA 3
• UEFA 4
• Intercontinental 1
• Intercontinental 2

Intercontinental playoffs
SEEDED into Final Playoff:

• Iraq
• DR Congo

UNSEEDED - will playoff eachother, with the 2x winners each facing the Seeded nations for 2x spots into the World Cup

• Jamaica
• Suriname
• Bolivia
• New Caledonia

UEFA Playoffs
Pots for Playoff draw

POT 1	POT 2	POT 3	POT 4
Italy	Poland	Republic of Ireland	Romania
Denmark	Wales	Albania	Sweden
Turkey	Czech	Bosnia and Herzegovina	North Macedonia
Ukraine	Slovakia	Kosovo	Northern Ireland

Round 1
Pot 1 v Pot 4 (single leg, home venue of Pot 1)
Pot 2 v Pot 3 (single leg, home venue of Pot 2)
Round 2
Winner of Matches 1 v Winner of Matches 2 (home venue determined by random draw)

 

[Sutherlandbear]

I'd rather 48 teams, rather than Nations League counting though, to be honest.

It should be no more than twenty-four teams. Forty eight is a farce.

 

[NicCarBel]

It should be no more than twenty-four teams. Forty eight is a farce.

24 is messy too. I hate it for Euros. I hate the 'some third places get in' mess that it (and the Asian Cup) has. 32 was the perfect medium.

 

[Sutherlandbear]

24 is messy too. I hate it for Euros. I hate the 'some third places get in' mess that it (and the Asian Cup) has. 32 was the perfect medium.

Alright then, go back to sixteen. Then the quality rises.

 

[zimbos05]

Italy not qualifying for a 3rd world cup in a row would be quite wild. The fact they won a Euro in between all this is even wilder.

 

[NicCarBel]

Italy not qualifying for a 3rd world cup in a row would be quite wild. The fact they won a Euro in between all this is even wilder.

Similar to Greece though way back when, yeah?

 

[JS96]

Alright then, go back to sixteen. Then the quality rises.

32 is the magic number. Thankfully qualifying has been intense even for 48 team world cup. Qualifying feels like an extended part of the tournament. It's called the finals after all.