2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)
Tournament details
DatesMarch 2025 – March 2026
TeamsMaximum of 55 (from 1 confederation)

The European section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification competition will act as qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be held in Canada, Mexico and the United States, for national teams that are members of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). A total of 16 slots in the final tournament are available for UEFA teams.

Entrants

All 55 FIFA-affiliated national teams from UEFA are able to submit an entry into qualification. However, Russia were suspended indefinitely on 28 February 2022 from participating in UEFA and FIFA competitions due to their country's invasion of Ukraine.[1] Therefore, it is unclear whether they will compete in the UEFA section of World Cup qualification.

Format

A revised qualification format was confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, on 25 January 2023. As the number of final tournament slots for UEFA was increased from 13 to 16,[2] the qualification format was modified from the previous cycle. The qualifying group stage will feature twelve groups of four or five teams. The winner of each group will qualify for the World Cup finals, while the second-placed teams will advance to the play-offs, along with the four best-ranked group winners from the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League which finished outside the top two of their qualifying group.[3] On 28 June 2023, the UEFA Executive Committee formally recommended the qualification format to FIFA.[4] FIFA has accepted the suggestion.[5][6]

  • Group stage: Twelve groups of four or five teams. Group winners will qualify for the World Cup finals.
  • Play-off stage: 16 teams (twelve group runners-up and four best Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall ranking, that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group) will be drawn into four play-off paths, playing two rounds of single-match playoffs (semi-finals with the seeded teams to host, followed by finals, with the home teams to be drawn). The four path winners will qualify for the World Cup finals.

Schedule

Below is the schedule of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Teams drawn into groups of five will play their first matches in March 2025, or June 2025 if they are participating in the quarter-finals or promotion/relegation play-offs of the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League. Teams drawn into groups of four will play their first matches in September 2025.[3][7]

Round Matchday FIFA window[8]
Groups of five Groups of four
First round
(group stage)		 Matchday 1 — 17–25 March 2025
Matchday 2 —
Matchday 3 — 2–10 June 2025
Matchday 4 —
Matchday 5 Matchday 1 1–9 September 2025
Matchday 6 Matchday 2
Matchday 7 Matchday 3 6–14 October 2025
Matchday 8 Matchday 4
Matchday 9 Matchday 5 10–18 November 2025
Matchday 10 Matchday 6
Second round
(play-offs)		 Semi-finals 23–31 March 2026
Finals

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA/UEFA suspend Russian clubs and national teams from all competitions". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  2. ↑ "FIFA Council prepares Congress, takes key decisions for the future of the FIFA World Cup". FIFA. 9 May 2017. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
  3. 1 2 "New formats for UEFA men's national team competitions approved". UEFA. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  4. ↑ "Lisbon to host UEFA Women's Champions League final in 2025". UEFA. 28 June 2023. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
  5. ↑ "Road to the FIFA World Cup 26 has begun". FIFA. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  6. ↑ "CONMEBOL kick off journey of "great joy and happiness" to historic FIFA World Cup 2026™, says FIFA President". FIFA. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
  7. ↑ "New formats for UEFA men's national team competitions" (PDF). UEFA. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  8. ↑ "Men's International Match Calendar 2023–2030" (PDF). FIFA. 6 April 2023. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
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