After a long wait, the groups for the draw for the qualifying phase of the next soccer world cupwhich will be held in 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico. This Friday, December 13, FIFA has raffled off the clashes among the teams that will compete for participation in the international championship that will be held in a couple of years on the American continent.
All eyes are already on Spainwhich started the draw in Pot 1 along with the 12 best teams in Europeamong which some important rivals such as France, England and Germany stood out. The trajectory of the Red Luis de la Fuente to close their classification will begin in June, if they fall in the quarterfinals of the Nations Leagueor directly in September.
The ranking system has changed this year, with groups that will be shorter than in previous years and a shorter calendar as well. Everything will be decided between the months of March to November 2025 and, of those 54 teams that risk everything, only 16 may be present in the 2026 World Cup.
Pots and how the 2026 World Cup qualifying phase works
He 2026 World Cup It will be the first in history that will feature the participation of 48 selectionsa change that comes after variations in the number of teams classified by Confederation. The UEFA European teams will have to divide themselves now 16 seatswhich has completely altered the qualifying phase as we know it.
In this case, there will be a total of 12 groups of four or five teams. The top 12 will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the 12 secondsplus the top four finishers in the Nations League who have not been first or second, will dispute the repechage. From these 16 national teams, the last four teams will obtain World Cup qualification.
For now, Spain part in the hype seedswhich gives it a certain advantage over other rivals and prevents it from coming across some of the most dangerous teams in Europe, such as France, England, Portugal or Belgium. Despite this, the rest of the pots also include other great teams that are worth taking into account, including Turkey, Norway, Ukraine, Poland and Hungary.
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Pot 1: Spain, France, England, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland, Denmark and Austria
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Pot 2: Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Czechia and Norway
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Pot 3: Scotland, Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Israel
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Pot 4: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Kosovo, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia and Lithuania
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Pot 5: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein and San Marino
This is how the groups of the 2026 World Cup qualifying phase remain
After the draw this Friday, December 13, the groups for the 2026 World Cup qualifying phase have been organized as follows:
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Group A: Winner Italy/Germany, Slovakia
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Group B: Switzerland, Sweden
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Group C: Loser Portugal/Denmark, Greece
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Group D: Winner France/Croatia, Ukraine
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Group E: Winner Spain/Netherlands, Türkiye
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Group F: Winner Portugal/Denmark, Hungary
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Group G: Loser Spain/Netherlands, Poland
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Group H: Austria
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Group I: Loser Germany/Italy
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Group J: Belgium
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Group K: England
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Group L: Loser France/Croatia
Spain’s rivals in the 2026 World Cup qualification
With everything still to be decided for the next 2026 World Cup, Spain part as one of the big favorites to revalidate the title she already achieved in 2010 after becoming European champion. Luis de la Fuente’s team will have to wait for their qualifying match against the Netherlands of the Nations League quarterfinals to find out their exact rivals.
If they win the Nations League match and certify their place in the semifinals of the championship, in which La Roja is the current champion, the team I would go to a group of four and the calendar could start in September. If, on the other hand, Ronald Koeman’s men prevail, will go to one of five and would start playing in June.
Therefore, Spain will have two possible paths in this World Cup qualifying phase. If they beat the Netherlands in the quarterfinals, they will face the rivals from Group E, while if they lose, they will fight against those from Group G.
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