World Cup 2026 qualifying draw: Date, seeds, format & how will it work?

All of the groups will contain one team each from pots one to four. Six of the groups will also have a team from pot five. There are some restrictions on which teams can be drawn in which groups, and who they can face – more on that below.

The teams will be drawn in order of pots – so pot one teams first, then pot two and so on.

Pot 1: Spain, Germany, Portugal, France, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Croatia, 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-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