Maroc - MOCKINBIRD.COM.NG - A La Une - 13/Dec 14:52

UEFA Preliminary Draw tees up titanic tussles

 The road to the FIFA World Cup 26™ has been mapped out for Europe’s 54 hopefuls at the UEFA Preliminary Draw in Zurich.A record-high number of 16 places are up for grabs for UEFA representatives at the historic 48-team showpiece in Canada, Mexico and the USA.Eight of the 12 sections will only have a confirmed Pot 1 team after March’s UEFA Nations League (UNL) quarter-finals, as outlined in more detail in the draw procedures. FIFA World Cup 26™: UEFA Preliminary Draw resultsGroup AWinner Italy - Germany (UNL QF4)SlovakiaNorthern IrelandLuxembourgGroup BSwitzerlandSwedenSloveniaKosovoGroup CDefeated team Denmark - Portugal (UNL QF3)GreeceScotlandBelarusGroup DWinner Croatia - France (UNL QF2)UkraineIcelandAzerbaijanGroup EWinner Netherlands - Spain (UNL QF1)TürkiyeGeorgiaBulgariaGroup FWinner Denmark - Portugal (UNL QF3)HungaryRepublic of IrelandArmeniaGroup GDefeated team Netherlands - Spain (UNL QF1)PolandFinlandLithuaniaMaltaGroup HAustriaRomaniaBosnia and HerzegovinaCyprusSan MarinoGroup IDefeated team Italy - Germany (UNL QF4)NorwayIsraelEstoniaMoldovaGroup JBelgiumWalesNorth MacedoniaKazakhstanLiechtensteinGroup KEnglandSerbiaAlbaniaLatviaAndorraGroup LDefeated team Croatia - France (UNL QF2)CzechiaMontenegroFaroe IslandsGibraltarThe UEFA qualifying group stage will begin in March 2025 and conclude in November 2025. It will follow a familiar format, with 12 groups of four or five teams, and the group winners securing a place at the FIFA World Cup™.The four remaining places will then be decided in March 2026 in a 16-team UEFA play-off involving the 12 group-stage runners-up and the four best-ranked UEFA Nations League 2024-25 group winners that have neither qualified directly for the FIFA World Cup as group winners nor entered the play-offs already as group runners-up.Note to editors Photos and graphics of today’s UEFA Preliminary Draw will be available here for media to download for editorial purposes only. Further content will be available on the FIFA Media Hub