2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

The European section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification competition acted 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 were available for UEFA teams.

Format

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

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 has increased from 13 to 16, the qualification format was modified from the previous cycle. The qualifying group stage featured six groups of four and six groups of five teams. The winner of each group qualified for the World Cup, while the second-placed teams advanced to the play-offs, along with the four best-ranked group winners from the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League that finished outside the top two of their World Cup qualifying group. On 28 June 2023, the UEFA Executive Committee formally recommended the qualification format to FIFA, which was later approved.

• First round (group stage): Six groups of four and six groups of five teams played home-and-away matches against all other teams in the group. Group winners qualified for the World Cup. • Second round (play-offs): Sixteen teams (twelve group runners-up and four best Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall ranking, which finished outside the top two of their qualifying group) were drawn into four paths, playing two rounds of single-match play-offs (semi-finals with the seeded teams to host, followed by finals, with the home teams to be drawn). The four path winners qualified for the World Cup.

Schedule

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

Below was the schedule of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Groups of five teams (Groups G–L) began in March 2025, while groups of four teams (Groups A–F) began in September 2025.

Round	Matchday	Dates
Groups A–F	Groups G–L
First round (group stage)	—N/a	Matchday 1	21–22 March 2025
Matchday 2	24–25 March 2025
Matchday 3	6–7 June 2025
Matchday 4	9–10 June 2025
Matchday 5	4–6 September 2025
Matchday 6	7–9 September 2025
Matchday 7	9–11 October 2025
Matchday 8	12–14 October 2025
Matchday 9	13–15 November 2025
Matchday 10	16–18 November 2025
Second round (play-offs)	Semi-finals	26 March 2026
Finals	31 March 2026

Draw

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

The draw for the first round (group stage) was held on 13 December 2024, 12:00 CET, at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. Of UEFA's 55 member associations, 54 men's national teams submitted a valid entry to the competition; Russia's entry was invalidated by their suspension from UEFA and FIFA competitions after their country's invasion of Ukraine.

The teams were seeded into five pots: Pots 1 to 4 each contained twelve teams, and Pot 5 contained six teams. FIFA, in consultation with UEFA, announced the allocation of teams to the five pots following the completion of the league phase of the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League. The teams were drawn into twelve groups: six groups of four teams (Groups A–F) and six groups of five teams (Groups G–L).

Following changes to the UEFA qualifying format, the competition featured staggered start dates. Five-team groups began in March 2025, while four-team groups started in September 2025. As 24 teams would be competing in the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League in March 2025 (8 in the League A quarter-finals and 16 in the League A/B or B/C promotion/relegation play-offs), significant changes were made to the seeding and draw procedures to accommodate all teams within the schedule.

Seeding method

Five-team groups could only contain one team participating in Nations League matches in March 2025, allowing these teams to have two free matchdays in World Cup qualifying to be scheduled during March. The remaining four teams in their group played among themselves during this window. Additionally, as the four quarter-final winners would compete in the 2025 UEFA Nations League Finals in June, they could not begin World Cup qualifying until September and therefore had to be drawn into four-team groups.

Given these conditions, Pot 1 contained the eight Nations League quarter-finalists, regardless of their position in the FIFA Men's World Ranking of November 2024. The quarter-finalists were represented by placeholders in the draw, denoting the winners and losers of each quarter-final pairing. The four remaining teams in Pot 1 were the next best-ranked teams in the World Ranking that November. The remaining teams were allocated to Pots 2 to 5 based on the World Ranking. This seeding method differed from previous cycles, as all World Cup qualifying group draws since (/wiki/2010FIFAWorldCupqualification) had been seeded based solely on the World Ranking.

While ultimately not required, adjustments to Pots 2 to 5 could have been necessary depending on the distribution of teams competing in the Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs in March 2025. Specifically, if any draw pot contained more Nations League play-off teams than could be accommodated in the available qualifying groups, the lowest-ranked Nations League play-off team from that pot would have been swapped with the highest-ranked eligible team from the lower pot. This process would have been repeated as needed within the same pot or across different pots.

Draw procedure

The draw started with Pot 1 and completed with Pot 5. A team was drawn and assigned to the first available group (based on draw conditions) in alphabetical order. Each five-team group contained one team from each of the five pots, while each four-team group contained one team from each of the first four pots.

The following restrictions were applied with computer assistance:

• Competition-related reasons: To allow for the parallel scheduling of World Cup qualifying and Nations League matches in March and June 2025, the following restrictions applied for allocating teams to groups of four or five: • Pot 1: The four teams participating in the 2025 UEFA Nations League Finals (identified as the winners of quarter-finals 1–4) were guaranteed to be drawn into four-team groups (Groups A–F). All other teams from this pot could be drawn into any group. • Pots 2, 3 and 4: Nations League promotion/relegation play-off teams from these pots could be drawn into any-sized group, but could only join five-team groups (Groups G–L) that did not already contain a losing quarter-finalist or play-off participant. All other teams from these pots could be drawn into any group. • Prohibited clashes: For political reasons, matches between the following pairs of teams were considered prohibited clashes and could not be drawn into the same group: Belarus–Ukraine, Gibraltar–Spain, Kosovo–Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo–Serbia. (Additionally, Armenia–Azerbaijan was identified as a prohibited clash, but the teams were in the same pot for the draw.) • Winter venues: A maximum of two teams whose venues were identified as having high or medium risk of severe winter conditions could be placed in each group: Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway. • The two "hard winter venues" (Faroe Islands and Iceland) generally cannot host games in March or November, thus could not be drawn together, whilst the others had to play as few home matches as possible in March and November. • Excessive travel: A maximum of one pair of teams identified with excessive travel distance in relation to other countries could be placed in each group: • Azerbaijan: with Gibraltar, Iceland, Portugal. • Iceland: with Armenia, Cyprus. • Kazakhstan: with Andorra, England, France, Gibraltar, Iceland, Malta, Northern Ireland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Spain, Wales.

Seeding pots

The draw pots were announced on 28 November 2024, based on the FIFA Men's World Ranking released on the same day.

QF	Team	Rank
1	Spain	3
Netherlands	7
2	France	2
Croatia	13
3	Portugal	6
Denmark	21
4	Italy	9
Germany	10
—N/a	England	4
Belgium	8
Switzerland	20
Austria	22
Team	Rank
Ukraine	25
Sweden	27
Turkey	28
Wales	29
Hungary	30
Serbia	32
Poland	35
Romania	38
Greece	39
Slovakia	41
Czech Republic	42
Norway	43
Team	Rank
Scotland	45
Slovenia	55
Republic of Ireland	60
Albania	65
North Macedonia	67
Georgia	68
Finland	69
Iceland	70
Northern Ireland	71
Montenegro	73
Bosnia and Herzegovina	74
Israel	76
Team	Rank
Bulgaria	82
Luxembourg	92
Belarus	98
Kosovo	99
Armenia	100
Kazakhstan	110
Azerbaijan	117
Estonia	123
Cyprus	130
Faroe Islands	137
Latvia	140
Lithuania	142
Team	Rank
Moldova	151
Malta	169
Andorra	171
Gibraltar	197
Liechtenstein	204
San Marino	210

Team	Rank
Russia	34

Summary

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D	Group E	Group F	Group G	Group H	Group I	Group J	Group K	Group L
Germany	Switzerland	Scotland	France	Spain	Portugal	Netherlands	Austria	Norway	Belgium	England	Croatia
Slovakia	Kosovo	Denmark	Ukraine	Turkey	Republic of Ireland	Poland	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Italy	Wales	Albania	Czech Republic
Northern Ireland	Slovenia	Greece	Iceland	Georgia	Hungary	Finland	Romania	Israel	North Macedonia	Serbia	Faroe Islands
Luxembourg	Sweden	Belarus	Azerbaijan	Bulgaria	Armenia	Malta	Cyprus	Estonia	Kazakhstan	Latvia	Montenegro
	Lithuania	San Marino	Moldova	Liechtenstein	Andorra	Gibraltar

First round

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

The group stage fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 13 December 2024 following the draw.

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Germany	6	5	0	1	16	3	+13	15	Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup		—	6–0	3–1	4–0
2	Slovakia	6	4	0	2	6	8	−2	12	Advance to play-offs		2–0	—	1–0	2–0
3	Northern Ireland	6	3	0	3	7	6	+1	9	Advance to play-offs via Nations League		0–1	2–0	—	1–0
4	Luxembourg	6	0	0	6	1	13	−12	0			0–2	0–1	1–3	—

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Switzerland	6	4	2	0	14	2	+12	14	Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup		—	4–0	3–0	4–1
2	Kosovo	6	3	2	1	6	5	+1	11	Advance to play-offs		1–1	—	0–0	2–0
3	Slovenia	6	0	4	2	3	8	−5	4			0–0	0–2	—	2–2
4	Sweden	6	0	2	4	4	12	−8	2	Advance to play-offs via Nations League		0–2	0–1	1–1	—

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Scotland	6	4	1	1	13	7	+6	13	Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup		—	4–2	3–1	2–1
2	Denmark	6	3	2	1	16	7	+9	11	Advance to play-offs		0–0	—	3–1	2–2
3	Greece	6	2	1	3	10	12	−2	7			3–2	0–3	—	5–1
4	Belarus	6	0	2	4	4	17	−13	2		0–2	0–6	0–0	—

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	France	6	5	1	0	16	4	+12	16	Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup		—	4–0	2–1	3–0
2	Ukraine	6	3	1	2	10	11	−1	10	Advance to play-offs		0–2	—	2–0	2–1
3	Iceland	6	2	1	3	13	11	+2	7			2–2	3–5	—	5–0
4	Azerbaijan	6	0	1	5	3	16	−13	1		1–3	1–1	0–2	—

Group E

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	6	5	1	0	21	2	+19	16	Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup		—	2–2	2–0	4–0
2	Turkey	6	4	1	1	17	12	+5	13	Advance to play-offs		0–6	—	4–1	2–0
3	Georgia	6	1	0	5	7	15	−8	3			0–4	2–3	—	3–0
4	Bulgaria	6	1	0	5	3	19	−16	3		0–3	1–6	2–1	—

Group F

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Portugal	6	4	1	1	20	7	+13	13	Qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup		—	1–0	2–2	9–1
2	Republic of Ireland	6	3	1	2	9	7	+2	10	Advanced to play-offs		2–0	—	2–2	1–0
3	Hungary	6	2	2	2	11	10	+1	8			2–3	2–3	—	2–0
4	Armenia	6	1	0	5	3	19	−16	3		0–5	2–1	0–1	—

Group G

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	8	6	2	0	27	4	+23	20	Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup		—	1–1	4–0	8–0	4–0
2	Poland	8	5	2	1	14	7	+7	17	Advance to play-offs		1–1	—	3–1	2–0	1–0
3	Finland	8	3	1	4	8	14	−6	10			0–2	2–1	—	0–1	2–1
4	Malta	8	1	2	5	4	19	−15	5		0–4	2–3	0–1	—	0–0
5	Lithuania	8	0	3	5	6	15	−9	3		2–3	0–2	2–2	1–1	—

Group H

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Austria	8	6	1	1	22	4	+18	19	Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup		—	1–1	2–1	1–0	10–0
2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	8	5	2	1	17	7	+10	17	Advance to play-offs		1–2	—	3–1	2–1	1–0
3	Romania	8	4	1	3	19	10	+9	13	Advance to play-offs via Nations League		1–0	0–1	—	2–0	7–1
4	Cyprus	8	2	2	4	11	11	0	8			0–2	2–2	2–2	—	2–0
5	San Marino	8	0	0	8	2	39	−37	0		0–4	0–6	1–5	0–4	—

Group I

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Norway	8	8	0	0	37	5	+32	24	Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup		—	3–0	5–0	4–1	11–1
2	Italy	8	6	0	2	21	12	+9	18	Advance to play-offs		1–4	—	3–0	5–0	2–0
3	Israel	8	4	0	4	19	20	−1	12			2–4	4–5	—	2–1	4–1
4	Estonia	8	1	1	6	8	21	−13	4		0–1	1–3	1–3	—	1–1
5	Moldova	8	0	1	7	5	32	−27	1		0–5	0–2	0–4	2–3	—

Group J

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Belgium	8	5	3	0	29	7	+22	18	Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup		—	4–3	0–0	6–0	7–0
2	Wales	8	5	1	2	21	11	+10	16	Advance to play-offs		2–4	—	7–1	3–1	3–0
3	North Macedonia	8	3	4	1	13	10	+3	13	Advance to play-offs via Nations League		1–1	1–1	—	1–1	5–0
4	Kazakhstan	8	2	2	4	9	13	−4	8			1–1	0–1	0–1	—	4–0
5	Liechtenstein	8	0	0	8	0	31	−31	0		0–6	0–1	0–3	0–2	—

Group K

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	England	8	8	0	0	22	0	+22	24	Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup		—	2–0	2–0	3–0	2–0
2	Albania	8	4	2	2	7	5	+2	14	Advance to play-offs		0–2	—	0–0	1–0	3–0
3	Serbia	8	4	1	3	9	10	−1	13			0–5	0–1	—	2–1	3–0
4	Latvia	8	1	2	5	5	15	−10	5		0–5	1–1	0–1	—	2–2
5	Andorra	8	0	1	7	3	16	−13	1		0–1	0–1	1–3	0–1	—

Group L

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Croatia	8	7	1	0	26	4	+22	22	Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup		—	5–1	3–1	4–0	3–0
2	Czech Republic	8	5	1	2	18	8	+10	16	Advance to play-offs		0–0	—	2–1	2–0	6–0
3	Faroe Islands	8	4	0	4	11	9	+2	12			0–1	2–1	—	4–0	2–1
4	Montenegro	8	3	0	5	8	17	−9	9		2–3	0–2	1–0	—	3–1
5	Gibraltar	8	0	0	8	3	28	−25	0		0–7	0–4	0–1	1–2	—

Second round

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

The second round (play-offs) was contested by the twelve group runners-up and the best four Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League interim overall ranking, who finished outside the top two of their qualifying group. The sixteen teams were split into four play-off paths, each containing four teams. Each path featured two single-leg semi-finals and one single-leg final. In the semi-finals, the fixtures of each path were determined by seeding pots, with the Pot 1 team hosting the Pot 4 team and the Pot 2 team hosting the Pot 3 team. The host of each path final was decided by a draw between the two semi-final pairings.

Nations League team selection

Based on the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League interim overall ranking, the four best-ranked Nations League group winners that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group advanced to the play-offs. If fewer than four Nations League group winners had been selected, the remaining spot(s) would have been allocated to the best-ranked remaining team(s) in the Nations League interim overall ranking that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group.

At the start of qualifying, the teams in the table below were potentially able to receive a play-off spot in the order given:

<table><thead><tr><th>UNL</th><th>Rank</th><th>Team</th><th>Qualifying group</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Nations League group winners</td></tr><tr><td>A</td><td>1</td><td> Spain &</td><td>E</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td> Germany &</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td> Portugal &</td><td>F</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td> France &</td><td>D</td></tr><tr><td>B</td><td>17</td><td> England &</td><td>K</td></tr><tr><td>18</td><td> Norway &</td><td>I</td></tr><tr><td>19</td><td> Wales †</td><td>J</td></tr><tr><td>20</td><td> Czech Republic †</td><td>L</td></tr><tr><td>C</td><td>33</td><td> Romania ‡</td><td>H</td></tr><tr><td>34</td><td> Sweden ‡</td><td>B</td></tr><tr><td>35</td><td> North Macedonia ‡</td><td>J</td></tr><tr><td>36</td><td> Northern Ireland ‡</td><td>A</td></tr><tr><td>D</td><td>49</td><td> Moldova</td><td>I</td></tr><tr><td>50</td><td> San Marino</td><td>H</td></tr><tr><td>Nations League remaining teams</td></tr><tr><td>A</td><td>5</td><td> Italy †</td><td>I</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td> Netherlands &</td><td>G</td></tr><tr><td>7</td><td> Denmark †</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>8</td><td> Croatia &</td><td>L</td></tr><tr><td>9</td><td> Scotland &</td><td>C</td></tr><tr><td>10</td><td> Serbia</td><td>K</td></tr><tr><td>11</td><td> Hungary</td><td>F</td></tr><tr><td>12</td><td> Belgium &</td><td>J</td></tr><tr><td>13</td><td> Poland †</td><td>G</td></tr><tr><td>14</td><td> Israel</td><td>I</td></tr><tr><td>15</td><td>  Switzerland &</td><td>B</td></tr><tr><td>16</td><td> Bosnia and Herzegovina †</td><td>H</td></tr></tbody></table>

•  &  Team qualified directly for World Cup as qualifying group winner •  †  Team advanced to the play-offs as qualifying group runner-up •  ‡  Team (in bold) advanced to the play-offs as one of the best four Nations League group winners outside top two of their qualifying group

Draw

The draw to determine the four play-off paths was held on 20 November 2025, 13:00 CET, at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. The sixteen teams advancing from the first round were divided into four pots of four teams each. The twelve group runners-up were allocated to Pots 1 to 3 (seeded based on the FIFA Men's World Ranking of November 2025), while the four teams advancing via the Nations League were automatically placed into Pot 4. The play-off paths were structured as follows:

• Play-off Path A was formed by semi-finals 1 and 2, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final A. • Play-off Path B was formed by semi-finals 3 and 4, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final B. • Play-off Path C was formed by semi-finals 5 and 6, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final C. • Play-off Path D was formed by semi-finals 7 and 8, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final D.

The draw for the semi-final started with Pot 1 and completed with Pot 4. Teams were drawn and assigned to the first available play-off semi-final in numerical order, as follows:

• The Pot 1 teams (seeded) were allocated to semi-finals 1, 3, 5 and 7 as the host team. • The Pot 2 teams (seeded) were allocated to semi-finals 2, 4, 6 and 8 as the host team. • The Pot 3 teams (unseeded) were allocated to semi-finals 2, 4, 6 and 8 as the away team. • The Pot 4 teams (unseeded) were allocated to semi-finals 1, 3, 5 and 7 as the away team.

The draw for the final hosts took place immediately afterwards, with finals A, B, C and D each having one of their semi-finalists selected as the host team.

No restrictions applied in the draw, as none of the clashes that were prohibited by UEFA for political reasons could occur. The seeding pots for the semi-final draw were as follows. The FIFA Men's World Rankings of 19 November 2025 are shown below in brackets, with the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League interim overall ranking appended for Pot 4 teams.

Seeded	Unseeded
Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4 (UNL)

Path A

Home team	Score	Away team
Semi-finals
Italy	2–0	Northern Ireland
Wales	1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–4 p)	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Final
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–1 p)	Italy

Path B

Home team	Score	Away team
Semi-finals
Ukraine	1–3	Sweden
Poland	2–1	Albania
Final
Sweden	3–2	Poland

Path C

Home team	Score	Away team
Semi-finals
Turkey	1–0	Romania
Slovakia	3–4	Kosovo
Final
Kosovo	0–1	Turkey

Path D

Home team	Score	Away team
Semi-finals
Denmark	4–0	North Macedonia
Czech Republic	2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p)	Republic of Ireland
Final
Czech Republic	2–2 (a.e.t.) (3–1 p)	Denmark

Qualified teams

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

Status of UEFA countries with respect to the 2026 FIFA World Cup:   Team qualified for World Cup  Team eliminated   Team suspended   Country not a UEFA member

The following teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament.

Team	Qualified as	Qualified on	Previous appearances in FIFA World Cup
England	Group K winners	14 October 2025	16 (1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
France	Group D winners	13 November 2025	16 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
Croatia	Group L winners	14 November 2025	6 (1998, 2002, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022)
Portugal	Group F winners	16 November 2025	8 (1966, 1986, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
Norway	Group I winners	16 November 2025	3 (1938, 1994, 1998)
Germany	Group A winners	17 November 2025	20 (1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
Netherlands	Group G winners	17 November 2025	11 (1934, 1938, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2022)
Belgium	Group J winners	18 November 2025	14 (1930, 1934, 1938, 1954, 1970, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2014, 2018, 2022)
Spain	Group E winners	18 November 2025	16 (1934, 1950, 1962, 1966, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
Switzerland	Group B winners	18 November 2025	12 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1954, 1962, 1966, 1994, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022)
Austria	Group H winners	18 November 2025	7 (1934, 1954, 1958, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1998)
Scotland	Group C winners	18 November 2025	8 (1954, 1958, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1998)
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Play-offs Path A winners	31 March 2026	1 (2014)
Sweden	Play-offs Path B winners	31 March 2026	12 (1934, 1938, 1950, 1958, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1990, 1994, 2002, 2006, 2018)
Turkey	Play-offs Path C winners	31 March 2026	2 (1954, 2002)
Czech Republic	Play-offs Path D winners	31 March 2026	9 (1934, 1938, 1954, 1958, 1962, 1970, 1982, 1990, 2006)

Top goalscorers

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

There were 676 goals scored in 204 matches, for an average of 3.31 goals per match.

Below are full goalscorer lists for all groups and the second round:

Controversies

2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

During the draw on 13 December 2024, when Ukraine was drawn, the map of the country did not include the disputed area of Crimea, which led to outrage from the Ukrainian Association of Football. FIFA later apologised for the incident.

In Group I, the Norwegian Football Federation stated that they "cannot remain indifferent to Israel's disproportionate attacks on the civilian population in Gaza" during the Gaza war. In the same group, during the Estonia–Israel qualification match, Estonian fans waved a banner targeting Israeli captain Eli Dasa who played for Russian club FC Dynamo Moscow from 2022 to 2025, for comments Dasa made that he was "proud to play" in Russia. The banner was removed at the request of UEFA. Also in the same group, the Italian Football Coaches' Association called for Israel to be suspended prior to the Italy–Israel qualification match.