Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe reacts during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. Credit: AP/Bernat Armangue
Also in March, third-place teams in League A groups will face runners-up in the four groups in second-tier League B in promotion-relegation playoffs over two legs. All those teams involved cannot start their World Cup qualifying program until at least June. Some will start in September.
World Cup beckons
European soccer will send 16 teams to the first 48-team men’s World Cup being hosted in 2026 by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Firstly, 54 of the 55 UEFA member countries will play in qualifying groups next year. Russia is still excluded during its invasion of Ukraine.
Only the 12 group winners in one year’s time advance direct to the tournament, before the other four European entries are decided by playoff brackets in March 2026.
Four of the 16 playoff teams will have won their Nations League group this month but then failed next year to finish in the top two of their World Cup qualifying group. The 12 runners-up in qualifying groups also get a second chance in the playoffs.
Top-seeded teams
There are now 12 European qualifying groups instead of 10, each with four or five teams and no longer any with six. Top-seeded status in the World Cup draw is an even bigger chance to avoid tough opponents.
Those 12 top-seeded teams will be the eight Nations League quarterfinalists plus the four best of the rest ranked by FIFA. Those will include England and Belgium.
Hungary and Serbia have much to gain now. They can outperform their FIFA rankings — currently Nos. 32 and 33 respectively, and otherwise destined for seeding pot 2 in the Zurich draw — by rising to finish second in their Nations League groups.
Hungary goes to the Netherlands before hosting Germany on Tuesday. In the group led by Spain, Serbia goes to Switzerland on Friday then hosts Denmark.
Teams that fall into seeding pot 3 can face a difficult path to the World Cup.
Norway, with Erling Haaland likely in its team, are safely in pot 2 as the 24th-highest ranked team in Europe, though avoiding defeat at Slovenia on Thursday will help.
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Publish date : 2024-11-13 05:18:00
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