World Cup 2026 qualifying seeds in full as England, Wales and Scotland in separate pots
The draw for UEFA's World Cup qualifying campaign will be held on December 13, and there's a chance two or more of the home nations will find themselves in the same group
by Tom Victor · The MirrorEngland are among the top seeds for World Cup 2026 qualifying despite being forced to climb back up to the top tier in the UEFA Nations League.
The European governing body has confirmed which national teams are in which pots ahead of qualifying for the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada, with England in pot one. This means they could be drawn in the same qualifying group as Wales in pot two or Scotland, Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland in pot three.
There are 12 teams in each of the first four pots, with the first eight spots in pot 1 going to the eight teams in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals. However, England also earn a high seeding due to their FIFA ranking for the draw, which takes place on December 13.
There are 54 European teams vying for 16 spots at the expanded 48-team World Cup, with Russia still excluded. There will be 12 qualifying groups, with the 12 winners all progressing, and the remaining four spots will go to the winners of a series of play-offs.
The entire group stage campaign will take place in 2025. The six groups of five teams will get underway in March, while six groups of four teams will wait until September to get going, while the final matches in all 12 groups will take place in November.
Spain, Netherlands, France, Croatia, Portugal, Denmark, Italy and Germany are the eight teams to earn a top seeding through their Nations League performances. They are joined in pot one by England, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria.
Once the groups have concluded, the play-offs will be held in March 2026. Four play-off spots will be reserved for Nations League group winners or high performers who finish outside the top two in their qualifying group.
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While UEFA has yet to start qualifying, other confederations are well along the way. A number of Asian teams have a chance to earn one of eight direct qualification slots in March, with Iran, Japan and South Korea currently leading their groups.
CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean) is less far along when it comes to finding out which three teams will join the three co-hosts. We're yet to learn which 12 teams will take part in the final stage, from which three group winners go through and the best runner-up faces an inter-continental play-off.
In South America, there are six games left to determine which six teams book an automatic spot, with no one over the line just yet. Oceania will determine its one automatic qualifier and one play-off entrant in March, while Africa's automatic qualifiers will be confirmed in October 2025.
UEFA pots in full:
Pot 1: France, Spain, England, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland, Denmark and Austria
Pot 2: Ukraine, Sweden, Türkiye, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Czechia and Norway
Pot 3: Scotland, Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Israel
Pot 4: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Kosovo, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia and Lithuania
Pot 5: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein and San Marino
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