England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland discover their 2026 World Cup qualifying opponents following Friday's draw in Zurich.
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have discovered their 2026 World Cup qualifying opponents following Friday's draw in Zurich.Wales will meet familiar foes Belgium, plus North Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein.
Northern Ireland are up against Slovakia, Luxembourg and the winner of the Germany v Italy Nations League game.The top team from each of the 12 groups qualifies automatically for the World Cup, which will be held in the US, Canada and Mexico - with the second-placed teams going into the play-offs. A total of 16 European teams will qualify.
The Scots face Greece, coincidentally in their World Cup qualifying group, in a two-legged Nations League promotion-relegation play-off in March.Six of the groups have four teams and six have five teams.The top team from each group qualifies automatically for the World Cup, with the runners-up going into the play-offs with four Nations League teams.
However no team will play World Cup qualifiers on all of those dates because there is a maximum of eight games. They can play friendlies on any free dates.
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