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Joe Wright
The UEFA section of qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup finally gets underway next March.
While Africa, Asia and South America are among those confederations to have made substantial progress in their qualification pools, European nations will see theirs condensed into a 12-month period.
The group stage begins in March 2025 and will run into November, with the playoff round being staged in March 2026. After then, we will know which 16 European sides will compete at the final tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The draw for the groups takes place on December 13. The Sporting News will update this page with the full standings and schedule once they are known.
MORE: Teams qualified for 2026 FIFA World Cup | Host cities in USA, Canada, and Mexico
There are 54 teams in total in UEFA’s World Cup qualifying section. They were split into five pots for the draw, depending on their position in the FIFA rankings: the strongest sides are in Pot 1, with the weakest in Pot 5.
MORE: Why Saudi Arabia hosting the 2034 World Cup is so controversial
This page will be updated once the group-stage draw has been concluded on December 13.
Group matches will start in March 2025 and will conclude in November.
The playoffs take place in March 2026. The 16 teams involved will be split into four paths, with the overall winners of each path taking a place at the finals in North America.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup begins on June 11, 2026 and runs through to July 19, 2026.
The opening game will see co-hosts Mexico face as-yet-unconfirmed opposition at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
Fellow host nations Canada and the United States play their opening matches the following day: Canada’s fixture will be at BMO Field in Toronto, while the USMNT’s first game will be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
Joe Wright is a Senior Editor at Sporting News, managing global soccer and the UK team. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has extensive experience covering some of the biggest events in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup, which included the final in Moscow.
