World Cup Qualifying Pots (not sure how it works tho')

In the qualifying campaign, each team will face off against each other twice. The group winners will secure their place in the World Cup automatically, while the runners-up will have to go through a playoff.

Below are all of the confirmed seedings for the qualifying draw.

Pot 1
Spain, Germany, Portugal, France, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, Croatia, England, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria

Pot 2
Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Cymru, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Czechia, Norway

Pot 3
Scotland, Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel

Pot 4
Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Kosovo, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Lithuania

Pot 5
Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino

 

"the Nations League play-offs take place in March 2025. Only when those fixtures are completed will the full line-up of some groups be finalised. On December 13, only four groups will be completed. Teams will be drawn into one of six groups of four or six groups of five. Teams will play each other home and away. Teams drawn in groups of five will start qualifying in March and teams drawn in groups of four start their campaigns in September. All groups will conclude in November 2025."

 

Fortunately Cymru has automatic qualification and (oops nearly forgot to mention) so does England.

 

Seems tough on the Scots. They’re the best team in pot 3 by some distance.

 

2026 FIFA World Cup final

Aerial view of MetLife Stadium in 2014, the host venue for the final
Event 2026 FIFA World Cup
Date July 19, 2026
Venue MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

 

When did it change to Czechia by the way, nobody calls them that lol.
Looking at Pot Four, I'd say one team there are definitely under achieving, and that's Bulgaria.

 

Utter disgrace that Israel are allowed to participate if you ask me, especially if Russia aren't.

 

You’d have thought so but just had a quick look and ranked 96th, not qualified for a tournament for 20 years and more recent results suggest maybe not. I was surprised too.

 

They might not qualify.

 

Judging by their performance at previous major finals, that might not be a bad thing! And I say that as someone who is a quarter Scottish, and always roots for them if they're playing anyone except England (although I must admit that the 3-0 defeat in Kazakhstan a few years ago was pretty funny!)

 

I fancy a 5 team group of:
England
Cymru
Scotland
Faroe Islands
Gibraltar.

 

Shouldn`t it be Turkiye anall.

 

I agree. I think I’d give them a good chance against Belgium out of the Pot 1 sides who are on the way down.

If they finish runner up it’s a lottery in the play offs.

If they drew a top side & then a very good Pot 2 side like Sweden then it’s a very difficult challenge to even finish second.