2026 World Cup Qualifiers, Group Draw Tomorrow: Spalletti's Italy Top Seed

The publication of the new FIFA ranking, which sees Italy in 9th place, has made official the pots and procedures for the draw of the European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup. The tournament, which will take place in Canada, Mexico and the United States, will be the first in history to host 48 teams, a historic change that will bring the number of European participants from 13 to 16.

Thanks to the qualification to the quarter-finals of the Nations League, Italy will be seeded at the Zurich draw. The event, scheduled for Friday 13 December at 12:XNUMX and broadcast live on the official FIFA website, will see the presence of the Technical Commissioner Luciano Spalletti.

Along with the Azzurri, the first pot will feature the other seven nations that reached the quarter-finals of the Nations League (Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain) and the four European teams best placed in the UEFA ranking (England, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria). Overall, the 54 European nations will be divided into 12 groups: six of five teams and six of four.

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The eight teams involved in the Nations League quarter-finals, including Italy, will have a special calendar. If the Azzurri were to qualify for the Finals, they would automatically be placed in a group of four teams, starting the qualifications only in September 2025. In case of defeat in the quarter-finals, they could be placed in a group of five teams, starting the journey as early as June, or in a group of four, playing two friendlies before the official matches.

The top teams in each group will qualify directly for the World Cup. The last four places will be awarded through a double play-off: the 12 second-placed teams and the four best Nations League teams that did not qualify as group winners or runners-up will participate.

The bands of the draw

Here is the official division of the bands:

• Band 1: France, Spain, England, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria.
• Band 2: Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Norway.
• Band 3: Scotland, Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel.
• Band 4: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Kosovo, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Lithuania.
• Band 5: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino.