Italy will face Northern Ireland in the World Cup qualifying playoffs and then have to get through a final to reach the tournament. A total of six World Cup participants will be determined in the playoffs.
For Italy, the World Cup qualifying playoffs are the last chance – otherwise the team would miss a World Cup for the third time in a row.
Europe: Four World Cup participants will be determined in four tournaments
The four European playoff tournaments determine four World Cup participants. The draw in Zurich resulted in the following games:
Semi-final 1:
- Italy – Northern Ireland
- Wales – Bosnia/Herzegovina*
Semi-final 2:
- Ukraine – Sweden*
- Poland – Albania
Semifinal 3:
- Türkiye – Romania
- Slovakia – Kosovo*
Semi-final 4:
- Denmark – North Macedonia
- Czech Republic – Ireland*
*The winners of these semi-final games have home advantage in the final. The home right in the semi-finals was previously determined by the seeding list.
Only one game takes place at a time, even in the final. The semi-finals are scheduled for March 26th, the finals are scheduled for March 31st (all games 6 p.m. or 8:45 p.m.). On the final day, the two losers of the semi-finals will play a friendly match.
From Jamaica to New Caledonia – six teams are playing for two World Cup places
In the two intercontinental playoff tournaments, two more World Cup participants will be determined from among six teams. One finalist has already been determined according to the FIFA world rankings:
Semi-final 1:
Final 1:
- Democratic Republic of Congo – winner New Caledonia/Jamaica
Semi-final 2:
Final 2:
- Iraq – winners Bolivia/Suriname
The intercontinental games are also scheduled to take place in March 2026. The games will be played in Mexico’s two World Cup stadiums in Guadalajara and Monterrey.
The World Cup stadium in Monterrey
Group stage draw on December 5th
The six playoff winners, like all other World Cup participants, will find out who they will play in the group phase at the draw in Washington DC on December 5th. Germany qualified directly for the World Cup with a 6-0 win against Slovakia on the last matchday. The distribution of the draw pots has not yet been confirmed by FIFA, but Germany is safely in pot 1 and is therefore initially avoiding the toughest opponents.
The 48 teams will be drawn into twelve groups of four teams each. The best two in each group and the eight best of the twelve third-placed teams reach the round of 16.