Details of the pots formation for the European Qualifiers of 2026 FIFA World Cup are known
Yasmine Green
Dailysports's expert
Translated by the editors
Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup have already started in some continents, but in Europe only a few details of the qualifiers are known so far. Still, clarity is beginning to emerge.
Earlier, it was known that qualifiers will be held according to a new structure: 12 groups of 4 or 5 teams. But now we know how the qualifying pots will be formed. There will be five of them, and the second to fifth pots will be formed according to the November FIFA rankings. Everything is much more interesting with the first pot.
The eight teams in this pot will be determined by the results of the upcoming Nations League group stage. The League A teams that will qualify for the play-offs, i.e. finish at least second in their groups, will be in the first pot.
The other four places in the first pot are reserved for the best teams in the FIFA rankings that did not make the playoffs. This, for example, can be used by the England national team, which will spend the current Nations League season in League B and will certainly not qualify for the 2024/2025 League A play-offs.
Pots two to five can be adjusted based on the results of the Nations League, as the new format, in addition to the quarter-finals in League A, also includes play-offs in Leagues A, B and C. These matches will take place in March 2025, so the draw for the World Cup qualifying round should provide a window for the Nations League play-offs.
These teams will start qualifiers in the summer of 2025. The participants in the Nations League Final Four, which will take place in the summer of 2025, will start qualifiers in September 2025, as they will be placed in a group of four teams.
