World Cup 2026 draw LIVE: England and Scotland discover qualifying opponents as groups drawn
England will play Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra in Thomas Tuchel’s first games in charge as the road to World Cup 2026 begins
England will play Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra in World Cup 2026 qualifying, in what will be Thomas Tuchel’s first games in charge after replacing Gareth Southgate.
The Three Lions, who were among the top seeds for the qualifying draw, were placed in the five-team Group K. First place in each group automatically secures a spot at the finals - in Canada, Mexico and the United States - in 18 months.
Many of the groups are not yet complete and will depend on the outcome of the Nations League quarter-finals, which will be played in March.
Scotland will play the loser of the tie between Portugal and Denmark, along with Greece and Belarus in the four-team Group C
Wales will once again take on Belgium, as well as North Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein in the five-team Group J.
Northern Ireland will meet the winners of Germany and Italy’s quarter-final, as well as Slovakia and Luxembourg in the four-team Group A .
Meanwhile the Republic of Ireland will face the winner of Portugal and Denmark’s quarter-final, as well as Hungary and Armenia in the four-team Group F.
Qualifying runs from late March 2025 through to mid-November, with play-offs for those who need them being played out in March 2026.
Follow the live blog for the 2026 World Cup qualifying groups below:
World Cup qualifying draw LIVE
Ukraine are eligible to be put in Group D.
Turkiye are quickly placed in Group E.
Hungary are put in Group F.
Romania are placed in Group H.
World Cup qualifying draw LIVE
From the Pot 2 draw, Slovakia go into Group A.
Sweden then come out and get placed in Group B.
Poland come out next and must be placed in Group G.
Greece, meanwhile, can be put in Group C.
World Cup qualifying draw LIVE
Group A: Winner of Germany vs Italy
Group B: Switzerland
Group C: Loser of Portugal vs Denmark
Group D: Winner of France vs Croatia
Group E: Winner of Spain vs Netherlands
Group F: Winner of Portugal vs Denmark
Group G: Loser of Spain vs Netherlands
Group H: Austria
Group I: Loser of Germany vs Italy
Group J: Belgium
Group K: England
Group L: Loser of France vs Croatia
World Cup qualifying draw LIVE
The final four teams in pot 1 come out now. The winner of the quarter-final between France and Croatia will go into Group D while the loser is placed in Group L.
The winners of Spain vs the Netherlands goes into Group E.
The winners of Portugal vs Denmark go into Group F.
World Cup qualifying draw LIVE
Next out with have the defeated team from the quarter-final between Germany and Italy who are placed in Group I.
Belgium are drawn into Group J.
England are placed in Group K, that’s the one to look out for as the draw goes on folks.
World Cup qualifying draw LIVE
Portugal vs Denmark play a Nations League quarter-final next year, whichever team loses will go into Group C.
The defeated team from a quarter-final between Spain and the Netherlands go into Group G as they cannot be placed into either Group D, E or F.
Austria also cannot be drawn into the previous groups so they get placed in Group H.
World Cup qualifying draw LIVE
There are eight teams involved in Nations League play-offs or quarter-finals in this pot.
The winner of Germany vs Italy in March is drawn into Group A.
Switzerland are drawn out next and go into Group B.
World Cup qualifying draw LIVE
The first part of this draw is to place the teams in pot 1. This includes England so Thomas Tuchel will be on high alert right now.
Here are the teams getting drawn out first:
Pot 1: Spain, Germany, Portugal, France, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Croatia, England, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria
World Cup qualifying draw LIVE
With five pots to draw from, Fifa now call on football legends to help draw the ball.
There are 54 teams in the draw and there are a number of factors involved. A video explaining how the draw works is now played to make sure we’re all on the same page.
World Cup qualifying draw LIVE
Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin, is now introduced and has provided a quick speech through a VT. He points out the ‘unwavering spirit of players and passion of fans that make this tournament special’.
Just a few more formalities to go until we can get to the point of why we’re all here.
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