The European draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifying groups is set to take place on Friday morning.
FIFA and UEFA have agreed to ban six international fixtures ahead of Friday's World Cup qualifying draw.All UEFA nations have been placed into one of five pots depending on their seeding, and there will be a total of 12 qualifying groups drawn.However, ahead of the draw on Friday, both FIFA and UEFA have decided to ban six matches from being drawn for various different reasons.
When political drama or cultural clashes threaten to turn a football match into a dangerous affair, it is sometimes best for a match to be banned altogether, and this is precisely what UEFA and FIFA have done.are of course placed into pot 1 for Friday's draw, but will not be eligible to play pot five side Gibraltar due to tensions over who owns the nation.
Kosovo, who have been placed in pot four for Friday's draw, are also banned from being drawn against either pot three's Bosnia-Herzegovina or pot two team Serbia due a historical conflict over Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Since the declaration, Serbia, along with several of their international allies, have refused to recognise Kosovo as their own nation, leading to increased tensions.This means that Serbia, and allies Bosnia-Herzegovina will not be drawn against Kosovo on Friday despite the three nations being in different pots.
Romania were awarded a 3-0 Nations League win after Kosovo abandoned their match due to political chants from rival fans. Of course, the Russian Football Union has banned from both FIFA and UEFA competitions since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but should they ever be brought back into the international game, they will not be eligible to play either Kosovo, due to their support of Serbia, or Ukraine due to the historic conflict between the two nations.
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