This Friday in Zurich, the International Federation will set up the groups for the World Cup which will take place in North America in a little over a year and a half, from June 11 to July 19, 2026. This competition will be the first to bring together 48 teams. Three teams, the United States, Canada and Mexico, are automatically qualified. For the remaining 45, the race for tickets has already started all over the world. Europe will get down to it between March 21, 2025 and March 31, 2026. This draw can be followed live on our app.
The selection of Murat Yakin, despite his disappointing recent results, is still part of pot 1, thanks to his FIFA ranking (20th). With luck, the “Nati” could face, for example, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Cyprus and San Marino. If the Swiss do not have their usual lucky star, they could find themselves in a group of four with Sweden, Scotland and Bulgaria. They will be favorites anyway and non-qualification would be a big failure.
All around the planet, these qualifications began almost a year ago. In Europe, the first clashes will take place next spring. The 55 selections from the Old Continent will be divided into twelve groups of four or five teams and the first will be directly qualified. All the runners-up plus four teams drafted via the current Nations League will then participate in play-offs, which will formalize the last European troops.
The increase from 32 teams qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar to 48 teams in 2026 has allowed the various continental associations to see their contingent increase dramatically. Asia will send eight or nine teams to the field (compared to four or five in the previous qualification formula), Africa nine or ten teams (5), North America six to eight troops (3 or 4) , South America ten selections (4 or 5) and Oceania one or two squads (0 or 1). Europe went from thirteen to “only” sixteen.
In addition to the five pots which separate the big names from the modest formations, Europe must deal with various specificities. Political relations between certain countries (Gibraltar and Spain, Belarus and Ukraine, Kosovo and Serbia, etc.) prevent them from confronting each other. The weather and the cold also force the northern countries (Estonia, Faroe Islands, Iceland, etc.) not to be too numerous in a group. These groups must also avoid traveling too far. For example, Azerbaijan cannot draw more than one team between Gibraltar and Iceland or Portugal.
During the next World Cup, the first round will pit 48 teams against each other, divided into twelve groups. They will compete in this World Cup in sixteen different stadiums: two located in Canada, three in Mexico and eleven in the United States. The first two in each group will qualify for the round of 16, as will the eight best third-placed teams. The opening match will be played by Mexico at the Aztec Stadium in Mexico City on June 11. The final will take place at MetLife Stadium in New York on July 19. And 104 meetings are on the program (compared to 64 in 2022).
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