World Cup qualification draws in Europe completed by Slovakia, Czech wins in Nations League

ZURICH (AP) — The draw seedings for 2026 World Cup qualification groups in Europe was decided on Tuesday as the final round of Nations League matches saw Slovakia and the Czech Republic secure a higher status.

FIFA will draw the 12 European qualification groups on 13 December in Zurich. The 12 first-place teams next November advance directly to the tournament, hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. A further four entries will be decided in the playoffs.

The 12 top-seeded nations were already known before the matches on Tuesday. Those are the eight Nations League quarter-finalists, plus another four teams ranked highest by FIFA, including England.

Slovakia’s 1-0 win over Estonia and the Czechs beating Georgia 2-1 ensured they would complete the pool of second-seeded teams, which includes the next 12 highest in the FIFA rankings.

Those results pushed Scotland down into Pool 3, where they risk landing in a tougher group as they seek to qualify for a first World Cup since 1998.

Europe has 16 entries in the first 48-team World Cup, and the other four places will be decided by the play-off knockout brackets in March 2026.

The 16 playoff teams will be the 12 runners-up in the World Cup qualifying groups, plus four teams that finished top of a Nations League group this week. They could include Northern Ireland, Moldova and San Marino.

The Next month’s FIFA draw is unusually complex and lacks clarity on the day because the eight Nations League quarter-finalists will be placeholders. Their exact placement will be decided after the two-legged quarter-finals on March 20 and 23.

The 54-team draw will allocate six groups of four teams and six groups of five teams. The larger groups can start in March or June.

Places in the four-team qualifying groups are to be reserved for the four teams that progress to the Nations League Final Four in June. These WC groups can only start playing in September.

Russia, the 55th UEFA member confederation, has been banned from international football during the military invasion of Ukraine.

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World Cup qualifying groups draw seeds:

Pot 1: Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Croatia, England, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria.

Pot 2: Ukraine, Turkey, Sweden, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Norway.

Port 3: Scotland, Slovenia, Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Israel.

Pot 4: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Kosovo, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Lithuania.

Pot 5: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino.

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