2026 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA second round
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The UEFA second round of the qualification tournament for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, also known as the UEFA play-offs or European play-offs, was contested by sixteen teams from the UEFA segment of qualifying. The play-offs determined the final four European teams that joined the twelve group winners at the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States. The twelve runners-up from the UEFA first round groups participated in the play-offs, along with four teams based on the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League interim overall ranking. The teams were divided into four paths, each containing four teams, with each play-off path featuring two single-leg semi-finals and one single-leg final. The twelve matches took place on 26 and 31 March 2026.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Turkey qualified for the final tournament.
Format
The play-off format was confirmed by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Nyon, Switzerland, on 28 June 2023.[1] The play-offs participants depended, in part, on results from the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League, although to a lesser degree than play-offs of the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying tournament.[2][3]
The twelve runners-up from the first round (group stage) were joined by four Nations League group winners that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group, based on the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League interim overall ranking. The sixteen teams were split into four play-off paths, each containing four teams. Each play-off path featured two single-leg semi-finals on 26 March, and one single-leg final on 31 March 2026. In the semi-finals, the fixtures of each path were drawn after the first round concluded using four seeding pots, with the Pot 1 team hosting the Pot 4 team and the Pot 2 team hosting the Pot 3 team. The host of each path final was decided by a draw between the two semi-final pairings. The winner of the four path finals qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.[4]
The play-offs were played in single-leg knockout matches. If scores were level at the end of normal time, 30 minutes of extra time was played, where each team was allowed to make a sixth substitution. If the scores remained tied, a penalty shoot-out was used to determine the winner.[5]
Qualified teams
Sixteen teams advanced to the play-offs. The participants were not decided solely on the results of the first round, with four of the spots allocated to group winners of the 2024–25 edition of the UEFA Nations League.
Second-placed teams (all twelve advance)
The twelve runners-up from the first round (group stage) advanced to the play-offs.
Nations League teams (four advance)
Based on the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League interim overall ranking,[6] the four best-ranked Nations League group winners that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group advanced to the play-offs. If fewer than four Nations League group winners had been selected, the remaining spot(s) would have been allocated to the best-ranked remaining team(s) in the Nations League interim overall ranking that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group.[4]
At the start of qualifying, the teams in the table below were potentially able to receive a play-off spot in the order given:[note 1]
| UNL | Rank | Team | Qualifying group | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nations League group winners | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A | 1 |  Spain & |
E | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 |  Germany & |
A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 |  Portugal & |
F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 |  France & |
D | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| B | 17 |  England & |
K | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 |  Norway & |
I | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 |  Wales † |
J | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 |  Czech Republic † |
L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| C | 33 |  Romania ‡ |
H | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 34 |  Sweden ‡ |
B | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 35 |  North Macedonia ‡ |
J | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 36 |  Northern Ireland ‡ |
A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| D | 49 |  Moldova |
I | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 50 |  San Marino |
H | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Key
- & Team qualified directly for World Cup as qualifying group winner
- † Team advanced to the play-offs as qualifying group runner-up
- ‡ Team (in bold) advanced to the play-offs as one of the best four Nations League group winners outside top two of their qualifying group
Draw
The draw to determine the four play-off paths was held on 20 November 2025, 13:00 CET, at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.[7][8][9] The sixteen teams advancing from the first round were divided into four pots of four teams each. The twelve group runners-up were allocated to Pots 1 to 3 (seeded based on the FIFA Men's World Ranking of November 2025), while the four teams advancing via the Nations League were automatically placed into Pot 4.[4]
The draw was presented by Melanie Winiger and conducted by Manolo Zubiria, the 2026 tournament's U.S. chief officer. Former players Marco Materazzi and Martin Dahlin acted as assistants in the draw.[10]
Procedure
The play-off paths were structured as follows:[4][11]
- Play-off Path A was formed by semi-finals 1 and 2, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final A.
- Play-off Path B was formed by semi-finals 3 and 4, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final B.
- Play-off Path C was formed by semi-finals 5 and 6, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final C.
- Play-off Path D was formed by semi-finals 7 and 8, with the winners of both semi-finals advancing to final D.
The draw for the semi-final started with Pot 1 and completed with Pot 4. Teams were drawn and assigned to the first available play-off semi-final in numerical order, as follows:
- The Pot 1 teams (seeded) were allocated to semi-finals 1, 3, 5 and 7 as the host team.
- The Pot 2 teams (seeded) were allocated to semi-finals 2, 4, 6 and 8 as the host team.
- The Pot 3 teams (unseeded) were allocated to semi-finals 2, 4, 6 and 8 as the away team.
- The Pot 4 teams (unseeded) were allocated to semi-finals 1, 3, 5 and 7 as the away team.
The draw for the final hosts took place immediately afterwards, with finals A, B, C and D each having one of their semi-finalists selected as the host team.
No restrictions applied in the draw, as none of the clashes that were prohibited by UEFA for political reasons could occur.[note 2]
Seeding
The seeding pots for the semi-final draw were as follows.[11] The FIFA Men's World Rankings of 19 November 2025 are shown below in brackets,[12] with the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League interim overall ranking appended for Pot 4 teams.
| Seeded | Unseeded | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 (UNL) |
|
|
| |
Schedule
The semi-finals took place on 26 March and the finals took place on 31 March 2026.[13] The kick-off times were confirmed on 20 November 2025 following the draw.[14][15] The semi-final and potential final hosts were required to confirm their venues by 19 December 2025.[16] As part of UEFA's scheduling, the losing semi-finalists of each path played a friendly match against each other on the day of the play-off finals.[11]
Times are CET/CEST,[note 3] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Path A
The winner of Path A, Bosnia and Herzegovina, entered Group B in the final tournament.
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 26 March 2026 – Cardiff | ||||||
| Wales | 1 (2) | |||||
| 31 March 2026 – Zenica | ||||||
 Bosnia and Herzegovina (p) | 1 (4) | |||||
| Bosnia and Herzegovina (p) | 1 (4) | |||||
| 26 March 2026 – Bergamo | ||||||
 Italy | 1 (1) | |||||
| Italy | 2 | |||||
| Northern Ireland | 0 | |||||
Summary
| Home team | Score | Away team |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-finals | ||
| Italy | 2–0 | Northern Ireland |
| Wales | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (2–4 p) | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Final | ||
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–1 p) | Italy |
Semi-finals
Final
Path B
The winner of Path B, Sweden, entered Group F in the final tournament.
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 26 March 2026 – Valencia | ||||||
 Ukraine | 1 | |||||
| 31 March 2026 – Solna | ||||||
| Sweden | 3 | |||||
| Sweden | 3 | |||||
| 26 March 2026 – Warsaw | ||||||
 Poland | 2 | |||||
| Poland | 2 | |||||
 Albania | 1 | |||||
Summary
Semi-finals
| Poland | 2–1 | Albania |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
|
Final
| Sweden | 3–2 | Poland |
|---|---|---|
|
Report (FIFA) Report (UEFA) |
Path C
Path D
The winner of Path D, the Czech Republic, entered Group A in the final tournament.
Bracket
| Semi-finals | Final | |||||
| 26 March 2026 – Prague | ||||||
| Czech Republic (p) | 2 (4) | |||||
| 31 March 2026 – Prague | ||||||
 Republic of Ireland | 2 (3) | |||||
| Czech Republic (p) | 2 (3) | |||||
| 26 March 2026 – Copenhagen | ||||||
 Denmark | 2 (1) | |||||
| Denmark | 4 | |||||
| North Macedonia | 0 | |||||
Summary
| Home team | Score | Away team |
|---|---|---|
| Semi-finals | ||
| Denmark | 4–0 | North Macedonia |
| Czech Republic | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p) | Republic of Ireland |
| Final | ||
| Czech Republic | 2–2 (a.e.t.) (3–1 p) | Denmark |
Semi-finals
Final
Goalscorers
There were 39 goals scored in 12 matches, for an average of 3.25 goals per match.
4 goals
2 goals
1 goal
Arbër Hoxha
Edin Džeko- Haris Tabaković
Patrik Schick- Pavel Šulc
Joachim Andersen- Mikkel Damsgaard
- Kasper Høgh
- Christian Nørgaard
Sandro Tonali
Fisnik Asllani- Kreshnik Hajrizi
- Veldin Hodža
- Florent Muslija
Robert Lewandowski- Karol Świderski
- Nicola Zalewski
- Piotr Zieliński
Troy Parrott
Lukáš Haraslín- David Strelec
- Martin Valjent
Anthony Elanga- Gustaf Lagerbielke
Kerem Aktürkoğlu- Ferdi Kadıoğlu
Matviy Ponomarenko
Daniel James
1 own goal
- Matěj Kovář (against Republic of Ireland)
Discipline
A player was automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[5]
- Receiving a red card (red card suspensions may be extended for serious offences)
- Receiving two yellow cards in two different qualifying group stage matches (yellow card suspensions are carried forward to the play-off semi-finals, but not the play-off finals, World Cup final tournament or any other future international matches)
Yellow cards received during the qualifying group stage will expire prior to the UEFA play-offs, thus preventing suspensions in the play-off finals due to yellow cards received in the semi-finals. However, yellow card suspensions accumulated at the end of the qualifying group stage would still be carried forward to the play-off semi-finals.[4]
The following suspensions were served during the second round qualifying matches:[30][31]
| Team | Player | Offence(s) | Suspended for match(es) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denmark | Joachim Andersen |  vs Scotland (5 September 2025) vs Scotland (18 November 2025) | vs North Macedonia (26 March 2026) |
| Rasmus Kristensen |  vs Scotland (18 November 2025) | vs North Macedonia (26 March 2026) | |
| North Macedonia | Tihomir Kostadinov | vs Belgium (10 October 2025) vs Wales (18 November 2025) | vs Denmark (26 March 2026) |
| Poland | Nicola Zalewski | vs Finland (10 June 2025) vs Malta (17 November 2025) | vs Albania (26 March 2026) |
| Republic of Ireland | Festy Ebosele | vs Portugal (11 October 2025) vs Hungary (16 November 2025) | vs Czech Republic (26 March 2026) |
| Liam Scales | vs Portugal (13 November 2025) vs Hungary (16 November 2025) | vs Czech Republic (26 March 2026) | |
| Romania | Denis Drăguș |  vs Bosnia and Herzegovina (15 November 2025) | vs Turkey (26 March 2026)[32] |
| Ukraine | Yukhym Konoplya | vs Iceland (10 October 2025) vs Iceland (16 November 2025) | vs Sweden (26 March 2026) |
| Ruslan Malinovskyi | vs Azerbaijan (13 October 2025) vs Iceland (16 November 2025) | vs Sweden (26 March 2026) |
See also
Notes
- The table lists teams down to the lowest-ranked team that could have potentially received a play-off spot (the team ranked 16th in League A) based on the distribution of teams to qualifying groups. Ultimately, the last spot only reached down to the lowest-ranked League C group winner.
- The Kosovo–Bosnia and Herzegovina prohibited clash was not possible due to both teams being in the same pot. Armenia–Azerbaijan, Belarus–Ukraine, Gibraltar–Spain and Kosovo–Serbia were also prohibited match-ups, but among those teams only Ukraine and Kosovo advanced to the play-offs.
- Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine were required to play their home matches at neutral venues.[20]