This summer we had Euro 2024 and the Copa American, the Nations League is done and dusted...for lots of us, the World Cup in 2026 is the next major men's tournament for us to look forward to.
Qualification for the tournament is already well under way in most confederations, but is yet to begin in earnest for UEFA nations, aside from setting up some of the possible implications from Nations League performance.
Here's how the schedule looks and all the key dates for those of you who are ready to start ramping up your quadrennial dose of World Cup fever.
When does World Cup 2026 qualifying begin for UEFA nations?
The European section of World Cup qualifying has been modified in the past 18 months after UEFA's qualification spots were bumped from 13 to 16 in line with the increased number of participants in the 2026 edition of the tournament.
This has led to a slight change of format to qualifying, with teams now drawn into 12 groups of four or five teams each. That's six groups of four teams, and six groups of five teams.
For sides drawn into groups of five, the qualification campaign will begin in late March 2025, with the first two match days held just a few days apart. Those with outstanding Nations League commitments (which includes Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland) will also play those games in the March international break alongside their World Cup games.
Those in groups of five will then play two more qualification games in early June. That means the groups of five will have already played four group games before the groups of four begin their fixtures.
The international breaks next September, October and November each contain another pair of games, and so all of the groups will come to an end in November 2025.
The winners of each group qualifying for the tournament automatically...but there is still a potential reprieve for those who miss out in the form of the play-offs.
How do the World Cup qualification play-offs work?
The 12 runners up, as well as the four best-ranked Nations League group winners that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group, will be placed into tournament-style play-offs.
Those play-offs consist of four paths of one-legged semi-finals leading to four finals, with all four play-off final winners earning qualification.
The play-off semi finals and finals will be held on the 26th and 31st of March 2026 respectively, with the main tournament set to begin in June of that year.
When is the draw for World Cup 2026 qualifying and what are the seedings?
The draw will be hold on Friday December 13 2024 at 11am UK time (midday Swiss time) from FIFA's headquarters in Zurich.
There's loads of rules around who can draw who, including taking Nations League commitments, severe winter weather, and excessive distance from one another, which we won't bore you with here.
But in essence: it's a seeded draw with one team from pots 1-4 in each group, with a team from pot 5 (the minnows) going into the six groups of five teams.
England will be top seeds as they begin life under Thomas Tuchel, with Wales in pot 2. Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are all in pot 3.
The full pots are as follows:
- Pot 1: Spain, Netherlands, France, Croatia, Portugal, Denmark, Italy, Germany, England, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria
- Pot 2: Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Norway
- Pot 3: Scotland, Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel
- Pot 4: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Kosovo, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Lithuania
- Pot 5: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino
