2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group A
Association football tournament group
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group A was one of the twelve UEFA groups in the World Cup qualification tournament to decide which teams would qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup final tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States.[1] Group A consisted of four teams: Germany, Luxembourg, Northern Ireland and Slovakia. The teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format from September to November 2025.
The group winners, Germany, qualified directly for the World Cup finals, while the runners-up, Slovakia, advanced to the second round (play-offs). In addition, Northern Ireland advanced to the play-offs via their Nations League ranking.
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
 |
 |
 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany |
6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 3 | +13 | 15 | Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 6–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | |
| 2 | Slovakia |
6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 12 | Advance to play-offs | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | |
| 3 | Northern Ireland |
6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 6 | +1 | 9 | Advance to play-offs via Nations League | 0–1 | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | |
| 4 | Luxembourg |
6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 13 | −12 | 0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | — |
Matches
The fixture list was confirmed by UEFA on 13 December 2024 following the draw.[2][3][4] Times are CET/CEST,[note 1] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
| Luxembourg | 1–3 | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
| Luxembourg | 0–2 | Germany |
|---|---|---|
| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
Goalscorers
There were 30 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 2.5 goals per match.
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
Patrik Hrošovský (against Northern Ireland)
Discipline
A player or team official was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[17]
- Receiving a red card (red card suspensions could be extended for serious offences)
- Receiving two yellow cards in two different matches (yellow card suspensions were carried forward to the play-offs, but not the finals or any other future international matches)
The following suspensions were served during the qualifying matches:[18]
| Team | Player | Offence(s) | Suspended for match(es) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Germany | Antonio Rüdiger |  vs Slovakia (4 September 2025) vs Northern Ireland (7 September 2025) | vs Luxembourg (10 October 2025) |
| Karim Adeyemi | vs Slovakia (4 September 2025) vs Northern Ireland (13 October 2025) | vs Luxembourg (14 November 2025) | |
| Luxembourg | Seid Korać |  vs Northern Ireland (4 September 2025) | vs Slovakia (7 September 2025) |
| Danel Sinani | vs Northern Ireland (4 September 2025) vs Slovakia (7 September 2025) | vs Germany (10 October 2025) | |
| Dirk Carlson |  vs Germany (10 October 2025) | vs Slovakia (13 October 2025) | |
| Florian Bohnert | vs Northern Ireland (4 September 2025) vs Germany (14 November 2025) | vs Northern Ireland (17 November 2025) | |
| Jeff Strasser (manager) | vs Germany (10 October 2025) vs Germany (14 November 2025) | vs Northern Ireland (17 November 2025) | |
| Northern Ireland | Conor Bradley | vs Germany (7 September 2025) vs Slovakia (10 October 2025) | vs Germany (13 October 2025) |
| Ethan Galbraith | vs Germany (7 September 2025) vs Germany (13 October 2025) | vs Slovakia (14 November 2025) | |
| Daniel Ballard | vs Slovakia (14 November 2025) | vs Luxembourg (17 November 2025) | |
| George Saville | vs Germany (7 September 2025) vs Slovakia (14 November 2025) | vs Luxembourg (17 November 2025) | |
| Slovakia | Ondrej Duda | vs Luxembourg (7 September 2025) vs Luxembourg (13 October 2025) | vs Northern Ireland (14 November 2025) |