Sports
World Cup 2026 Play-Off Round Draw Fixture Schedule
The draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place in Washington DC on Friday evening.
England and Scotland will be part of the draw, having qualified automatically for the tournament to be held in the USA, Canada and Mexico in June and July next year.
Next year’s tournament is the first newly-expanded competition, with 48 teams taking part as opposed to the normal 32. But the draw will take place on Friday without us knowing the identity of six of the nations taking part.
Forty-two teams have qualified outright, with six teams to join them following a play-off round. Wales, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will all be part of that play-off round, hoping to make it through to the main tournament proper.
Ireland made it to the play-offs with a stunning late 3-2 win over Hungary thanks to a Troy Parrott hat-trick in the November international break, while Wales secured a home draw with a 7-1 win over North Macedonia, and Northern Ireland made it after finishing top of their qualifying group.
Now the draw has been completed for the play-offs, covering all the continents, and GIVEMESPORT looks at how it is all shaping up.
Inter-Confederation World Cup Play-offs Draw
For the draw, the highest-ranked country (DR Congo) will automatically be in the first final, and the second-highest (Iraq) in the second final. There will then be an open draw of the four remaining teams into each semi-final position. The dates for the games will be confirmed at a later date.
Semi-Final 1:
New Caledonia vs Jamaica
Semi-Final 2:
Bolivia vs Suriname
Final 1:
DR Congo vs Winner of Semi-final 1
Final 2:
Iraq vs Winner of Semi-final 2
European World Cup Play-offs Draw
The European draw will see eight semi-final fixtures played, before four finals, with the draw done for which nations will play at home in those finals, too.
Path A:
Semi-final
Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
Italy vs Northern Ireland
Final
Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy or Northern Ireland
Path B:
Semi-final
Ukraine vs Sweden
Poland vs Albania
Final
Ukraine or Sweden vs Poland or Albania
Path C:
Semi-final
Turkey vs Romania
Slovakia vs Kosovo
Final
Slovakia or Kosovo vs Turkey or Romania
Path D:
Semi-final
Denmark vs North Macedonia
Czech Republic vs Republic of Ireland
Final
Czech Republic or Republic of Ireland vs Denmark or North Macedonia
When will the play-offs take place?
As we mentioned above, the draw for the main tournament takes place on Friday, December 5 and it will be made with six balls in pot four that will only have play-off winner 1 etc on them.
We will not know who the final six nations to qualify are until March next year – just three months before the tournament is due to begin.
That is because the play-off fixtures are being held in the next international break. All of the semi-finals will be held on March 26, with the finals to then be held on March 31.
