2026 World Cup Qualifiers: results of the qualifying draw for Europe

England will face Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra in Group K of the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup according to the draw organised by FIFA in Zurich (SUI) on 13/12/2024.

If France, runners-up at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, beat Croatia in the quarter-finals of the Nations League on 20/03/2025, they will be placed in Group D (with Ukraine, Iceland and Azerbaijan) of the European qualifiers for the World Cup, while they will be relegated to Group L (Czech Republic, Montenegro, Faroe Islands and Moldova) if they lose, according to the draw.

The results of the other three Nations League quarter-finals, namely Germany - Italy, Spain - Netherlands and Denmark - Portugal, will determine the full composition of the 12 groups in March 2025.

"The 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…