Italy are due to begin the qualification process for the 2026 World Cup in North America with two fixtures scheduled between March 21 and March 25, 2025.
The Azzurri currently have three international breaks scheduled for the remaining part of 2024, all of which are reserved for Nations League fixtures against France, Israel and Belgium.
Luciano Spalletti and the team’s journey to the next major tournament will begin in the new year, in a newly-formatted qualification process.
2026 World Cup Qualifiers: Schedule and format
The 2026 World Cup finals format will also change for 2026, as the competition is set to feature 48 teams moving forwards, instead of the recent 32-team set-up.
That means that there will be more slots available for teams in every continent, including in Europe. UEFA are now set to receive 16 places at the final tournament, rising from 13 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
UEFA qualification for the World Cup will consist of 12 groups of either four or five nations. They will all play each other home and away over the course of the 2025 calendar year. The 12 eventual group winners will receive automatic qualification to the final tournament.
The runners-up from those groups will advance to the play-off system, along with the four best-ranked group winners from the Nations League who finished outside the top two in their World Cup qualifying groups. Those 16 sides will eventually be whittled down to four in a knock-out style arrangement at the end of March, 2026.
The draw for World Cup qualification is currently due to take place after the group phase of the Nations League comes to a close, so that could take place in November or December of this year.
48 team world cup. absolute rubbish!! No excuses for not being there but .
They won’t make it . I had high hopes with Spalletti after what he did with napoli but he has been awful . I don’t see them making it
qualification is not the goal with 16 seats available it will be impossible not to qualify
After the horrific show in the Euro is Spalletti the right man to lead the Azzurri ?
How far this man can take Italy in WC first round out ??
Fresh start with younger more motivated manager is the correct strategy
this is going to be good watch who we get facing opponents cant beat i am done no more soccer awhile
I am telling you now, we will not qualify for the 2026 World cup.
There are going to be groups of 4-5 teams, and our world ranking will take a hit after these Euros and the upcoming Nations league.
Our group will potentially be something like this:
Spain
Italy
Turkey
Luxembourg.
And we will not qualify. Simple
The future of young Italian players with the current young team will have an impact.2023 Italy U17 Euro Winners , 2023 U19 Euro Winners, 2024 U20 World Cup Runner up Silver. They have deep talent for the future. They need scoring machines. It may have been a bad loss but iy did not surprise me. The more International experience and club play they get the more dangerous Italian football will be in the near future. It’s the beginning of the rebuilding stage. FORZA ITALIA
I beleav ITS time to lets the Young talent rise plus give buffon the change to manager the italian squad