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Football Italia
·20 November 2024
Italy will know their World Cup qualifiers’ opponents before mid-December, and while they secured top-seeded status through their qualification for the Nations League’s quarter-finals, it may not be enough to spare Luciano Spalletti’s side a difficult path towards a spot in the 2026 tournament.
FIFA confirmed that the 2026 World Cup qualifying draw for UEFA affiliated nations will take place on Friday December 13 at 11.00 GMT (12.00 CET).
Adrien Rabiot of France scores his team’s third goal during the UEFA Nations League 2024/25 League A Group A2 match between Italy and France at San Siro on November 17, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
The 54 European National teams will be divided into 12 groups of four or five, with 16 of them eventually booking a spot in the tournament co-hosted by USA, Canada and Mexico either through winning their group or the play-offs which will involve the 12 runners-up.
However, as reported by Gazzetta dello Sport, the teams included in the other seeding pots could make the draw particularly complicated for Italy.
The Azzurri will be top seed in the draw alongside Spain, Germany, England, Portugal, France, Denmark, Croatia, Austria, Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium, meaning they won’t be meeting any of these teams in the qualifiers.
However, the pot two includes sides like Hakan Calhanoglu’s Turkey, Erling Haaland’s Norway, Slovakia, Sweden or Poland. In addition, Italy could also draw one between Scotland, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s Georgia or Slovenia from pot three, which could make their group even more competitive.
The rules of the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign will require Italy to finish top of their group to get direct access to the tournament and avoid the play-off scare that proved fatal for the Azzurri recently, keeping them out of the last two editions of the competition.
Euro World Cup qualifiers pots
Pot 1 Spain Germany France England Portugal Italy Denmark Croatia The Netherlands Switzerland Belgium Austria
Pot 2 Turkey Norway Serbia Slovakia Sweden Romania Ukraine Greece Hungary Poland Wales Czech Republic
Pot 3 Scotland Slovenia Georgia North Macedonia Ireland Albania Finland Northern Ireland Iceland Israel Bosnia & Herzegovina Montenegro
Pot 4 Bulgaria Kosovo Belarus Armenia Kazakistan Luxembourg Azerbaijan Estonia Cipro Far Oer Latvia Lituania
Pot 5 Moldova Malta Andorra Gibraltar San Marino Liechtenstein
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