Thomas Tuchel's England have been drawn against Serbia, Albania, Latvia, and Andorra in Group K for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The ex-Bayern Munich and Chelsea manager officially assumes the head coach role on January 1st, drawing confidence from the fact that England has never lost to any of the teams they will face en route to the tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Scotland is in a four-team group and will face the loser of the Nations League quarter-final between Portugal and Denmark, along with Greece and Belarus in Group C. Steve Clarke's squad also confronts Greece in a Nations League promotion-relegation playoff in March.
The Republic of Ireland are in Group F against the winner of the Portugal v Denmark Nations League tie, alongside Hungary and Armenia, making it a challenging group for Heimir Hallgrímsson's team. Craig Bellamy's Wales are in Group J with Belgium, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan, and Liechtenstein, aiming to qualify for their second consecutive World Cup.
Michael O'Neill's improving Northern Ireland will face the winner of the Germany-Italy Nations League quarter-final, plus Slovakia and Luxembourg in Group A, seeking their first qualification since 1986. England has only faced Serbia once as a unified nation—during this year's Euros, where a Jude Bellingham goal was decisive in a scrappy group stage match.
England has won all six previous encounters with Albania—all World Cup qualifiers—and faced them in the last qualification round for Qatar. Latvia will be a new opponent at the senior level for England, while minnows Andorra were also in England's group for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Gareth Southgate's team secured a 4-0 home victory and a 5-0 win in the return match.
The Euro 2024 winners, Spain, will face Turkey, Georgia, and Bulgaria in Group E if they defeat the Netherlands in their Nations League clash. If they lose, Spain will instead face Poland, Finland, Lithuania, and Malta in Group G. The winner of Germany v Italy will be in Group A, while the loser will face Norway, Israel, Estonia, and Moldova in Group I.
France will face Ukraine, Iceland, and Azerbaijan in Group D if they get past Croatia in the Nations League; otherwise, Europe's top-ranked team will play Czechia, Montenegro, Faroe Islands, and Gibraltar in Group L. Apart from Wales and England's groups, only two others are complete at this stage without Nations League permutations.
In Group B, Switzerland face Sweden, Slovenia, and Kosovo in a competitive group. Finally, in Group H, Ralf Rangnick's Austria face Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, and San Marino. Sixteen European nations will qualify for the finals, which will feature 48 teams for the first time. Qualifying will commence in March for the five-team groups, with four-team groups starting in September after the Nations League campaign concludes.
The group winners qualify automatically, with the runners-up entering playoffs in March 2026 alongside the four best-ranked Nations League group winners who did not finish in the top two of their qualifying group.
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