2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group E
Association football tournament group
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group E 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 E consisted of four teams: Bulgaria, Georgia, Spain and Turkey. The teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format from September to November 2025.
The group winners, Spain, qualified directly for the World Cup finals, while the runners-up, Turkey, advanced to the second round (play-offs).
Standings
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).
Georgia  | 2–3 |  Turkey |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
| Georgia | 3–0 |  Bulgaria |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| Turkey | 2–0 | Bulgaria |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Goalscorers
There were 48 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 4 goals per match.
6 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
Viktor Popov (against Turkey)
2 own goals
- Atanas Chernev (against Spain and Turkey)
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey | Barış Alper Yılmaz |  vs Georgia (4 September 2025) | vs Spain (7 September 2025) vs Bulgaria (11 October 2025) |
| İsmail Yüksek |  vs Georgia (4 September 2025) vs Bulgaria (15 November 2025) | vs Spain (18 November 2025) | |
| Georgia | Willy Sagnol (manager) | vs Turkey (4 September 2025) | vs Bulgaria (7 September 2025) |
| Luka Lochoshvili | vs Turkey (4 September 2025) vs Bulgaria (7 September 2025) | vs Spain (11 October 2025) | |
| Giorgi Kochorashvili | vs Turkey (4 September 2025) vs Turkey (14 October 2025) | vs Spain (15 November 2025) |