2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group J
Association football tournament group
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification UEFA Group J 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 J consisted of five teams: Belgium, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia and Wales. The teams played against each other home-and-away in a round-robin format from March to November 2025. However, as Belgium were involved in the Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs in March, they began their qualifying campaign in June 2025.
The group winners, Belgium, qualified directly for the World Cup finals, while the runners-up, Wales, advanced to the second round (play-offs). In addition, North Macedonia advanced to the play-offs via their Nations League ranking.
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |  |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium |
8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 7 | +22 | 18 | Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | 4–3 | 0–0 | 6–0 | 7–0 | |
| 2 | Wales |
8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 11 | +10 | 16 | Advance to play-offs | 2–4 | — | 7–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | |
| 3 | North Macedonia |
8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 13 | Advance to play-offs via Nations League | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–1 | 5–0 | |
| 4 | Kazakhstan |
8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 13 | −4 | 8 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 4–0 | ||
| 5 | Liechtenstein |
8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 31 | −31 | 0 | 0–6 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | — |
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).
| Liechtenstein | 0–3 | North Macedonia |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Wales | 3–1 | Kazakhstan |
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| Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| North Macedonia | 1–1 | Wales |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| North Macedonia | 1–1 | Belgium |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Kazakhstan | 4–0 | Liechtenstein |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
| North Macedonia | 1–1 | Kazakhstan |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Kazakhstan | 1–1 | Belgium |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
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| Belgium | 7–0 | Liechtenstein |
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Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Goalscorers
There were 72 goals scored in 20 matches, for an average of 3.6 goals per match.
6 goals
5 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Malick Fofana- Romelu Lukaku
- Brandon Mechele
- Nicolas Raskin
- Alexis Saelemaekers
- Arthur Theate
- Leandro Trossard
Dinmukhamed Karaman- Alibek Kasym
- Aleksandr Marochkin
- Maksim Samorodov
- Dastan Satpayev
- Askhat Tagybergen
- Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov
Ezgjan Alioski- Darko Churlinov
- Visar Musliu
- Lirim Qamili
- Luka Stankovski
Ben Davies- Jordan James
- Rabbi Matondo
- Sorba Thomas
1 own goal
Benjamin Büchel (against North Macedonia)
Discipline
A player or team official was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[25]
- 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:[26]
| Team | Player | Offence(s) | Suspended for match(es) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belgium | Thomas Meunier |  vs North Macedonia (6 June 2025) vs Wales (13 October 2025) | vs Kazakhstan (15 November 2025) |
| Rudi Garcia (manager) | vs Wales (9 June 2025) vs Wales (13 October 2025) | vs Kazakhstan (15 November 2025) | |
| Kazakhstan | Serhiy Malyi | vs North Macedonia (9 June 2025) vs Wales (4 September 2025) | vs Belgium (7 September 2025) |
| Maksim Samorodov | vs Wales (22 March 2025) vs Liechtenstein (10 October 2025) | vs North Macedonia (13 October 2025) | |
| Islambek Kuat | vs North Macedonia (9 June 2025) vs North Macedonia (13 October 2025) | vs Belgium (15 November 2025) | |
| Bakhtiyar Zaynutdinov | vs Liechtenstein (10 October 2025) vs North Macedonia (13 October 2025) | vs Belgium (15 November 2025) | |
| Liechtenstein | Felix Oberwaditzer | vs Kazakhstan (25 March 2025) vs North Macedonia (7 September 2025) | vs Kazakhstan (10 October 2025) |
| Jens Hofer | vs North Macedonia (22 March 2025) vs Kazakhstan (10 October 2025) | vs Wales (15 November 2025) | |
| North Macedonia | Nikola Serafimov | vs Liechtenstein (22 March 2025) vs Wales (25 March 2025) | vs Belgium (6 June 2025) |
| Blagoja Milevski (manager) | vs Wales (25 March 2025) vs Belgium (6 June 2025) | vs Kazakhstan (9 June 2025) | |
| Visar Musliu | vs Belgium (6 June 2025) vs Kazakhstan (9 June 2025) | vs Liechtenstein (7 September 2025) | |
| Bojan Ilievski | vs Belgium (6 June 2025) vs Liechtenstein (7 September 2025) | vs Belgium (10 October 2025) | |
| Wales | Harry Wilson | vs Belgium (9 June 2025) vs Belgium (13 October 2025) | vs Liechtenstein (15 November 2025) |
| Ethan Ampadu | vs Belgium (9 June 2025) vs Liechtenstein (15 November 2025) | vs North Macedonia (18 November 2025) | |
| Jordan James | vs North Macedonia (25 March 2025) vs Liechtenstein (15 November 2025) | vs North Macedonia (18 November 2025) |