On Friday, December 14 in Zurich, the draw for the group stage of the UEFA World Cup 2026 qualification (start - at 13:00 Kyiv time) will take place. Ukraine is in the second pot.

The first pot includes the quarter-finalists of the UEFA Nations League – Portugal, France, Germany, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, as well as England, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria – as the best-ranked teams from those European nations that did not reach the quarter-finals. The remaining participants are distributed across pots 2–5 according to the updated FIFA ranking on November 28, where Ukraine is ranked at 25th position.

World Cup 2026. Qualifying Cycle

UEFA (Europe): 16 spots.

The European qualification will take place from March 2025 to March 2026 and consists of two rounds.

Pots before the draw for the first round

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

Pot 2: Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Norway.

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

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

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

Belarus and Ukraine will not be drawn into the same group.

Details of the draw procedure in FIFA release

Round 1: Twelve groups, each with five or four teams, will play from March to November 2025 under a traditional group stage system. The twelve winners of these groups will earn direct spots in the final tournament.

The twelve second-placed teams and the four best third-placed teams from the UEFA Nations League 2024/2025, who finish below second place in the European qualification group stage, will participate in knockout mini-tournaments.

Round 2: Knockout mini-tournaments in March 2026 will consist of one-legged semi-finals and finals. The sixteen participants will be divided into four playoff paths. Four winners will earn spots at the World Cup 2026.

AFC (Asia): 8 spots + 1 place in intercontinental playoffs.

CAF (Africa): 9 spots + 1 place in intercontinental playoffs.

CONCACAF (North and Central America): 3 tournament hosts + 3 spots + 2 places in intercontinental playoffs.

CONMEBOL (South America): 6 spots + 1 place in intercontinental playoffs.

OFC (Oceania): 1 spot + 1 place in intercontinental playoffs.

Intercontinental playoffs: 2 spots.

World Cup 2026. Final Tournament

The World Cup 2026 will be the first tournament in history to feature 48 teams in its final stage. Twelve groups of four teams each will be formed. The top two teams from each group and eight best third-placed teams advance to the round of 16.

Matches of the 23rd World Cup will take place in 16 cities. These are Toronto and Vancouver in Canada, Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey in Mexico, as well as Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle in the USA.

The opening match of the World Cup will be held on June 11, 2026, in Mexico City, while the final will take place in New York on July 19.

Final tournament calendar for the World Cup 2026