World Cup 2026 UEFA Qualifiers!
Welcome to World Cup 2026
For the 2026 World Cup, the number of final tournament slots for the 55 teams comprising the UEFA has increased from 13 to 16.
In order to accommodate the additional three teams which will progress to the World Cup in 2026 as compared to 2022, the qualifying playoff was changed.
First off, the qualifying group stage will feature twelve groups of four (5 groups) or five (7 groups) teams. Each team will play a home and an away game against each of the other teams in their group.
There will be a total of 200 matches in the first round alone!
What is more, the twelve winners of each team will advance directly to the 2026 World Cup!
In addition to this, the twelve second place teams will advance to a secondary playoff round, joined by four best teams from the 24-25 UEFA Nations League which did not place first or second in their group.
These sixteen teams will be gathered into four groups of four, where a single elimination playoff will ensue consisting of two semi-final games and one finals game for each group.
The winner of the playoff for each group will advance to the 2026 World Cup.
With each team in the group of 5 playing 8 matches in the 10 available matchdays, each team will have 2 byes. By way of contrast, each team in the group of 4 will not have any byes. Below is the schedule for the UEFA First Round Matches.
WORLD CUP 2026 UEFA QUALIFIERS - ROUND ONE
March 21-22, 2025: Seven Groups of Five Matchday 1
March 24-25, 2025: Seven Groups of Five Matchday 2
June 6-7, 2025: Seven Groups of Five Matchday 3
June 9-10, 2025: Seven Groups of Five Matchday 4
September 4-6, 2025: Seven Groups of Five Matchday 5, Five Groups of Four Matchday 1
September 7-9, 2025: Seven Groups of Five Matchday 6, Five Groups of Four Matchday 2
October 9-11, 2025: Seven Groups of Five Matchday 7, Five Groups of Four Matchday 3
October 12-14, 2025: Seven Groups of Five Matchday 8, Five Groups of Four Matchday 4
November 13-15, 2025: Seven Groups of Five Matchday 9, Five Groups of Four Matchday 5
November 16-18, 2025: Seven Groups of Five Matchday 10, Five Groups of Four Matchday 6
WORLD CUP 2026 UEFA QUALIFIERS - ROUND TWO
March 26, 2026: Semi-finals
March 31, 2026: Finals