The draw for the European Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup will take place on Friday, December 13, 2024, and Italy will be among the seeded teams. Here’s all you need to know.
Italy will be in pot one on December 13, when the World Cup qualifier draw for UEFA teams will occur.
Spain’s recent win over Serbia in the Nations League has allowed the Azzurri to be a top-seeded team alongside Germany, Spain, France, Belgium, England, Portugal, and the Netherlands.
The Azzurri haven’t qualified for the last two editions of the World Cup and haven’t played in the knock-out phase of the competition since 2006, when they went on to win the trophy on penalties in an epic Final against France.
The members of that fantastic team recently reunited in Viareggio alongside their coach, Marcello Lippi.
Luciano Spalletti will aim to succeed where Giampiero Ventura and Roberto Mancini failed. The Azzurri will learn their opponents in December and start playing for the World Cup qualifiers in 2025.
World Cup qualifiers – Format
As UEFA explain on their website: “Teams will be drawn into 12 groups of four and five teams in Zurich on Friday 13 December 2024, with traditional home-and-away matches and ‘all play all’ principles retained.
“Teams drawn in groups of five will begin qualifying in March and teams drawn in groups of four start their campaigns in September. All groups conclude in November 2025.
“The 12 group winners qualify directly for the World Cup; the four remaining berths are determined by play-offs involving the 12 group runners-up.
“The 12 group runners-up participate in the play-offs, along with the four best-ranked group winners of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League that did not finish their European Qualifiers group stage in first or second place.
“The 16 teams who enter the play-offs will be drawn into four play-off paths, with four teams in each. Play-off matches will be played in single-leg semi-finals followed by single-leg finals within the same international window in March 2026.”
World Cup qualifiers – Dates
Group stage draw
13 December 2024
Group stage match dates
March to November 2025
Play-off match dates
26-31 March 2026
Final tournament dates
11 June to 19 July 2026