Pot 1 in the playoff draw will comprise the four top-seeded teams; Pot 2 will incorporate teams 5-8; Pot 3 the sides ranked 9-12. Pot 4 will house the four teams qualifying to this stage via the Nations League. For the playoff draw they are ranked 13-16.

The 2026 World Cup draw will be held before the field is settled in full, as December 5 gives every nation its path to the World Cup Final.

Hoping to break the spell and end the curse after two consecutive eliminations in the playoffs—first at the hands of Sweden and then North Macedonia—which caused Italy to miss the last two World Cups, in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. The playoffs will assign another 4 spots to Europe, in addition to the 12 group winners from the qualification rounds.

The outlook is favorable. Iraq will qualify for the intercontinental playoff if… They draw 0-0, if the away-goals rule is applied, since they scored in the first leg. They draw 1-1, 2-2, 3-3…, if the away-goals rule does not apply.

Six teams will play in the inter-confederation playoffs: one from CONMEBOL, one from Oceania, one from Asia, one from Africa, and two from CONCACAF.

With England's World Cup qualifying campaign coming to a close Thomas Tuchel's side will soon find out who they'll face across the pond over the summer

Iraq and the United Arab Emirates shared a 1-1 draw in Abu Dhabi on Thursday to leave their World Cup qualifying playoff finely poised ahead of the second leg in Basra on Tuesday.

After running the gauntlet in Africa and getting past Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo are unlikely to fear anyone, even if the fixtures next March will represent their first competitive matches outside Africa in 50 years.

The draw is scheduled to be made at 12pm Irish time. What is the draw procedure? The play-offs will consist of the 12 European teams who finished second in

UEFA World Cup qualifying fixtures, results, tablesThere are two huge games lined up for the final day of qualifying in Europe, with Scotland hosting Denmark knowing a win seals them automatic qualification but a draw is good enough for Denmark.