FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying draw details

England will learn their opponents in the European Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup 2026, when the draw takes place on Friday 13 December.

The draw will take place in Zurich from around 11am GMT with teams drawn into 12 groups of four or five teams as the road to the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico begins.

And incoming England men's head coach Thomas Tuchel will be in attendance at the draw ahead of starting his new role with the Three Lions on 1 January 2025.

Nations who are drawn in groups of five and will start their campaign in March, while teams drawn in groups of four start their campaigns in September 2025. All groups conclude in November 2025.

There will be 16 countries from UEFA who will qualify for the 2026 World Cup, which will be made up of the 12 group winners who qualify automatically, with the four remaining spots to be determined by play-offs involving the 12 group runners-up.

England will be in Pot 1 for the draw, and you can see the details of those pots below.

Pot 1: Spain, Germany, Portugal, France, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Croatia, England, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria

Pot 2: Ukraine, Sweden, Turkiye, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Czechia, Norway

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

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

Pot 5: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino

The 2026 World Cup Finals will be staged across 16 cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States, broken down as below.

United States (11): Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle
Mexico (3): Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey
Canada (2): Toronto, Vancouver

The World Cup Final will be held in New York on 19 July 2026.