World Cup 2026: Towards an easy draw for the Blues

Fifa made official this Thursday the composition of the hats which will give rise to the qualifying groups for the 2026 World Cup in the Europe zone. According to a draw which will be carried out on December 13 at the headquarters of the international football federation, in Zurich, Switzerland.

The number one pot dedicated to the top seeds will thus be made up of the eight quarter-finalists of the League of Nations – France, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain – but also the four other representatives of the continent best placed in the Fifa rankings. Namely England, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria.

First edition of the World Cup with 48 countries, the European contingent is rewarded with three additional qualifiers, increasing from 13 to 16 ambassadors. The first 12 in each group will thus qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup. The last four seeds will be played in March 2026 during play-offs between the 12 runners-up in the group and “the four best-ranked teams in the 2023-24 Nations League – namely the group winners who have not yet validated their ticket for the World Cup or the play-offs,” specifies Fifa.

The composition of the five hats for the playoff draw:

Hat 1: France, Spain, England, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland, Denmark and Austria.

Hat 2: Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Czechia and Norway.

Hat 3: Scotland, Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Israel.

Hat 4: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Kosovo, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia and Lithuania.

Hat 5: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein and San Marino.