The World Cup 2026 qualifying stage is over for UEFA (and everywhere else) and we now know most of the teams that will participate in World Cup. UEFA will have more teams than any other continent, 16 (out of the 48 in total), coming from the 12 group stage winners, plus 4 teams that will go in through the European play-offs.
On November 18, during the last international break of 2025, the qualification process ended, and this are the 12 winners on each group:
England
France
Croatia
Portugal
Norway
Germany
Netherlands
Belgium
Austria
Switzerland
Spain
Scotland
Teams in World Cup play-offs for UEFA
The four last remaining spots will be decided in play-offs in March 2026. 12 teams, the 12 runner-ups of the group stage, will participate there, as well as four teams that had a best performance at Nations League that didn't finish in the top two of their groups (which ended up the salvation for Sweden).
Italy
Poland
Rep of Ireland
Denmark
Wales
Albania
Sweden
Turkey
Czechia
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Ukraine
Slovakia
Kosovo
North Macedonia (Nations League route)
Sweden (Nations League route)
Romania (Nations League route)
Northern Ireland (Nations League route)
Are you excited for World Cup 2026? Remember that the draw for the play-offs will be made on Thursday, November 20, and the draw for World Cup groups, on December 5 at the White House.