The draw for the European qualifying groups for the 2026 World Cup which will be played in the United States, Mexico and Canada will take place tomorrow in Zurich. In Switzerland, Italy will know the teams to beat to gain a pass for the next World Cup: after two consecutive failed qualifiers, the overriding objective is not to miss the next World Cup.
The Azzurri coached by Luciano Spalletti were placed in the first tier
First Band – France, Spain, England, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, ItalyGermany, Croatia, Switzerland, Denmark and Austria.
Second tier – Ukraine, Sweden, Türkiye, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Norway.
Third tier – Scotland, Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Israel.
Fourth band – Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Kosovo, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia and Lithuania.
Fifth band – Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein and San Marino.
How many European teams qualify for the 2026 World Cup?
In total 16 UEFA nations will qualify for the World Cup. The 12 group winners qualify directly for the final phase of the World Cup: the four remaining places are determined by play-offs involving the 12 group runners-up and the 4 best Nations League national teams (one for each series) not qualified as runners-up. The 16 participants in the play-offs will in turn be divided into four paths of four teams each, with the semi-finals and final to be played in March 2026.
Italy, the draw will not be… final
The Italian national team will have the security of who they will face in the World Cup qualifiers only in March 2025. The eight teams qualified for the Nations League quarter-finals (which will be played between 20 and 23 March 2025) will in fact be included in the draw among the “winners of the qualifiers Nations League” in two “suspended” groups: one for the winner and one for the loser of the quarterfinals. Whoever wins their quarter-final will find themselves in a group of four teams (because they will then also play the Final Four in June). Whoever loses may instead end up in a group of four or five based on the draw.