Time for the draw for the European zone qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, to be held in USA, Mexico and Canada has arrived!
At one o’clock in the afternoon, the representative groups of the UEFA member states will enter the draw, which will produce the twelve groups of four or five teams.
Among them and Greek national team, which will be located at 2nd capacity group following their excellent run in the recent Nations League – which saw them qualify for the playoffs in March, meaning Ivan Jovanovic’s side will start their qualifying campaign later.
From the resulting groups, the teams that finish on top will secure direct ticket for the World Cup, while those who come second will go to barrage.
It is noted that the draw will be held in Zurich, with Greece represented by the federal coach as well as the Salpingidis-Torosidis.
Qualifying phase:
The European zone group matches will start in March and finish in November 2025. 12 groups of four or five teams will be drawn and the group winners will secure a place in the final phase of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be played at the stadiums of the USA, Canada and Mexico.
For the remaining 4 places that UEFA is entitled to (the European teams that will take part in the final phase of the World Cup have increased from 13 to 16) play-offs will be held, in which 16 teams will participate, namely the 12 runners-up of the qualifying groups and the top 4 of the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League groups not having qualified as group winners, nor they will have entered the play-offs as runners-up.
The draw will start from the 1st capacity group and continue with the rest, up to the 5th. It is worth noting that thanks to its excellent results in the Nations League, the National Team is in the 2nd capacity group.
The draw capacity groups:
1st group: France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, England, Switzerland, Croatia, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Austria.
2nd group: Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, GreeceSlovakia, Czech Republic, Norway.
3rd group: Scotland, Slovenia, Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Israel.
4th group: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Kosovo, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Lithuania.
5th group: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino.
? Draw for the UEFA qualifiers of the 2026 World Cup will be made on Friday at 12:00 CET!
?? There will be six groups with four nations in them + six groups with five nations in them.
?? 12 group winners will secure the 2026 World Cup, 12 runner-ups will enter the Play-offs. pic.twitter.com/vXLr8uw2Ed
— Football Rankings (@FootRankings) December 11, 2024
Source: Sport Fm
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