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==

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. ==Draw==

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. 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. based on the FIFA Men's World Ranking released on the same day. Key ==Summary==

The group stage fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 13 December 2024 following the draw. Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E Group F Group G Group H Group I Group J Group K Group L ==Second round==

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 Draw Path A Path B Path C Path D ==Qualified teams==

The following teams from UEFA qualified for the final tournament. Notes ==Top goalscorers==

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

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. Following the end of qualification, some UEFA members complained that Europe's allocation of 16 places was insufficient. They also criticised the home advantage which some nations had had in the play-offs, believing that the games should have been hosted on neutral grounds. ==Notes==