UEFA 2026 World Cup Qualifying (Europe): Full Schedule, Groups, and Results

Amazingly, a number of underdogs are competing for UEFA qualification to the 2026 World Cup in North America, while several titans are having difficulty.

So far, Germany and Italy have had some problems in qualifying, whereas Norway, England, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, and France are all looking very good.

As you can see from the format explanation below and the current tables, the major guys are trying to qualify for the 2026 World Cup with as little fuss as possible, therefore they cannot afford to make any mistakes.

European (UEFA) Qualification Format for the 2026 World Cup

• Round-robin, home-and-away matches are played in twelve groups of four to five nations in the first round (March 21–November 18, 2025). Winners of the group advance to the 2026 World Cup. The runners-up advance to one of the four playoff stages.
• Second round (March 26–31, 2025): Four semifinal and final paths are picked from the top four UEFA Nations League group winners and twelve group runners-up. The 2026 World Cup is open to four path winners.

European (UEFA) World Cup qualification schedule, dates

First round group stage
Groups A-F: March 21 – November 18, 2025
Groups G-L: September 4 – November 18, 2025

Second round
Semifinals — March 26, 2026
Finals — March 31, 2026

First round fixtures

Kickoff at 2:45 pm ET, unless otherwise stated

Monday, October 13

Iceland vs France
North Macedonia vs Kazakhstan
Northern Ireland vs Germany
Slovakia vs Luxembourg
Slovenia vs Switzerland
Sweden vs Kosovo
Ukraine vs Azerbaijan
Wales vs Belgium

Tuesday, October 14

Estonia vs Moldova — 12pm ET
Andorra vs Serbia
Ireland vs Armenia
Italy vs Israel
Latvia vs England
Portugal vs Hungary
Spain vs Bulgaria
Turkiye vs Georgia

Thursday, November 13

Armenia vs Hungary — 12pm ET
Azerbaijan vs Iceland — 12pm ET
Norway vs Estonia — 12pm ET
Andorra vs Albania
England vs Serbia
France vs Ukraine
Ireland vs Portugal
Moldova vs Italy

Friday, November 14

Finland vs Malta — 12pm ET
Croatia vs Faroe Islands
Gibraltar vs Montenegro
Luxembourg vs Germany
Poland vs Netherlands
Slovakia vs Northern Ireland

Saturday, November 15

Kazakhstan vs Belgium — 9am ET
Cyprus vs Austria — 12pm ET
Georgia vs Spain — 12pm ET
Liechtenstein vs Wales — 12pm ET
Turkiye vs Bulgaria — 12pm ET
Bosnia & Herzegovina vs Romania
Denmark vs Belarus
Greece vs Scotland
Slovenia vs Kosovo
Switzerland vs Sweden

Sunday, November 16

Hungary vs Ireland — 9am ET
Portugal vs Armenia — 9am ET
Albania vs England — 12pm ET
Azerbaijan vs France — 12pm ET
Serbia vs Latvia — 12pm ET
Ukraine vs Iceland — 12pm ET
Israel vs Moldova
Italy vs Norway

Monday, November 17

Czechia vs Gibraltar
Germany vs Slovakia
Malta vs Poland
Montenegro vs Croatia
Netherlands vs Lithuania
Northern Ireland vs Luxembourg

First round results

Thursday, September 4

Kazakhstan 0-1 Wales
Georgia 2-3 Turkiye
Lithuania 1-1 Malta
Bulgaria 0-3 Spain
Liechtenstein 0-6 Belgium
Luxembourg 1-3 Northern Ireland
Netherlands 1-1 Poland
Slovakia 2-0 Germany

Friday, September 5

Denmark 0-0 Scotland
Faroe Islands 0-1 Croatia
Greece 5-1 Belarus
Iceland 5-0 Azerbaijan
Italy 5-0 Estonia
Moldova 0-4 Israel
Montenegro 0-2 Czechia
Slovenia 2-2 Sweden
Switzerland 4-0 Kosovo
Ukraine 0-2 France

Saturday, September 6

Latvia 0-1 Serbia
Armenia 0-5 Portugal
England 2-0 Andorra
Austria 1-0 Cyprus
Ireland 2-2 Hungary
San Marino 0-6 Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sunday, September 7

Georgia 3-0 Bulgaria
Lithuania 2-3 Netherlands
North Macedonia 5-0 Liechtenstein
Belgium 6-0 Kazakhstan
Germany 3-1 Northern Ireland
Luxembourg 0-1 Slovakia
Poland 3-1 Finland
Turkiye 0-6 Spain

Monday, September 8

Belarus 0-2 Scotland
Croatia 4-0 Montenegro
Gibraltar 0-1 Faroe Islands
Greece 0-3 Denmark
Israel 4-5 Italy
Kosovo 2-0 Sweden
Switzerland 3-0 Slovenia

Tuesday, September 9

Armenia 2-1 Ireland
Azerbaijan 1-1 Ukraine
Albania 1-0 Latvia
Bosnia & Herzegovina 1-2 Austria
Cyprus 2-2 Romania
France 2-1 Iceland
Hungary 2-3 Portugal
Norway 11-1 Moldova
Serbia 0-5 England

Thursday, October 9

Finland 2-1 Lithuania
Austria 10-0 San Marino
Belarus 0-6 Denmark
Cyprus 2-2 Bosnia & Herzegovina
Czechia 0-0 Croatia
Faroe Islands 4-0 Montenegro
Malta 0-4 Netherlands
Scotland 3-1 Greece

Friday, October 10

Kazakhstan 4-0 Liechtenstein
Belgium 0-0 North Macedonia
France 3-0 Azerbaijan
Germany 4-0 Luxembourg
Iceland 3-5 Ukraine
Kosovo 0-0 Slovenia
Northern Ireland 2-0 Slovakia
Sweden 0-2 Switzerland

Saturday, October 11

Latvia 2-2 Andorra
Hungary 2-0 Armenia
Norway 5-0 Israel
Bulgaria 1-6 Turkiye
Estonia 1-3 Italy
Portugal 1-0 Ireland
Serbia 0-1 Albania
Spain 2-0 Georgia

Sunday, October 12

San Marino 0-4 Cyprus
Faroe Islands 2-1 Czechia
Netherlands 4-0 Finland
Scotland 2-1 Belarus
Croatia 3-0 Gibraltar
Denmark 3-1 Greece
Lithuania 0-2 Poland
Romania 1-0 Austria

Europe (UEFA) 2026 World Cup qualification table

Group A

1. Germany — 2-0-1, +4 GD, 6 points
2. Northern Ireland — 2-0-1, +2 GD, 6 points
3. Slovakia — 2-0-1, +1 GD, 6 points
4. Luxembourg — 0-0-3, -7 GD, 0 points

Group B

1. Switzerland — 3-0-0, +9 GD, 9 points
2. Kosovo — 1-1-1, -2 GD, 4 points
3. Slovenia — 0-2-1, -3 GD, 2 points
4. Sweden — 0-1-2, -4 GD, 1 point

Group C

1. Denmark — 3-1-0, +11 GD, 10 points
2. Scotland — 3-1-0, +5 GD, 10 points
3. Greece — 1-0-3, -3 GD, 3 points — ELIMINATED
4. Belarus — 0-0-4, -13 GD, 0 points — ELIMINATED

Group D

1. France — 3-0-0, +6 GD, 9 points
2. Ukraine — 1-1-1, 0 GD, 4 points
3. Iceland — 1-0-2, +2 GD, 3 points
4. Azerbaijan — 0-1-2, -8 GD, 1 point

Group E

1. Spain — 3-0-0, +11 GD, 9 points
2. Turkiye — 2-0-1, 0 GD, 6 points
3. Georgia — 1-0-2, 0 GD, 3 points
4. Bulgaria — 0-0-3, -11 GD, 0 points

Group F

1. Portugal — 3-0-0, +7 GD, 9 points
2. Hungary — 1-1-1, +1 GD, 4 points
3. Armenia — 1-0-2, -6 GD, 3 points
4. Republic of Ireland — 0-1-2, -2 GD, 1 point

Group G

1. Netherlands — 5-1-0 — +19 GD — 16 points
2. Poland — 4-1-1 — +6 GD — 13 points
3. Finland — 3-1-3 — -5 GD — 10 points
4. Lithuania — 0-3-4 — -5 GD — 3 points — ELIMINATED
5. Malta — 0-2-4 — -15 GD — 2 points — ELIMINATED

Group H

1. Austria — 5-0-0 — +16 GD — 15 points
2. Bosnia and Herzegovina — 4-1-1 — +8 GD — 13 points
3. Romania — 3-1-2 — +5 GD — 1- points
4. Cyprus — 2-2-3 — +2 GD — 8 points — ELIMINATED
5. San Marino — 0-0-7 — -31 GD — 0 points — ELIMINATED*

Group I

1. Norway — 6-0-0 — +26 GD — 18 points
2. Italy — 4-0-1 — +7 GD — 12 points
3. Israel — 3-0-3 — -1 GD — 9 points
4. Estonia — 1-0-5 — -10 GD — 3 points — ELIMINATED
5. Moldova — 0-0-5 — -22 GD — 0 points — ELIMINATED*

Group J

1. North Macedonia — 3-3-0 — +9 GD — 12 points
2. Belgium — 3-2-0 — +13 GD — 11 points
3. Wales — 3-1-1 — +5 GD — 10 points
4. Kazakhstan — 2-0-4 — -4 GD — 6 points
5. Liechtenstein — 0-0-6 — -23 GD — 0 points — ELIMINATED

Group K

1. England — 5-0-0 — +13 GD — 15 points
2. Albania —3-2-1 — +3 GD — 11 points
3. Serbia — 2-1-2 — -2 GD — 7 points
4. Latvia — 1-2-3 — -4 GD — 5 points
5. Andorra — 0-1-5 — -10 GD — 1 point — ELIMINATED

Group L

1. Croatia — 5-1-0 — +19 GD — 16 points
2. Czechia — 4-1-2 — +4 GD — 13 points
3. Faroe Islands — 4-0-3 — +4 GD — 12 points
4. Montenegro — 2-0-4 — -9 GD — 6 points — ELIMINATED
5. Gibraltar — 0-0-6 — -18 GD — 0 points — ELIMINATED

*Could qualify via UEFA Nations League ranking

Europe (UEFA) 2026 World Cup qualification first round results

All times ET

The first two matchdays did not include teams participating in UEFA Nations League quarterfinal and relegation playoff games. That list is long and includes big names like Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, France, Croatia, Netherlands, and Denmark.

Matchday 1

Friday, March 21

Cyprus 2-0 San Marino
England 2-0 Albania
Andorra 0-1 Latvia
Romania 0-1 Bosnia & Herzegovina
Poland 1-0 Lithuania
Malta 0-1 Finland

Saturday, March 22

Liechtenstein 0-3 North Macedonia
Moldova 0-5 Norway
Montenegro 3-1 Gibraltar
Israel 2-1 Estonia
Czechia 2-1 Faroe Islands
Wales 3-1 Kazakhstan

Matchday 2

Monday, March 24

Lithuania 2-2 Finland
England 3-0 Latvia — Reece James scored stunning free kick
Albania 3-0 Andorra
San Marino 1-5 Romania
Bosnia & Herzegovina 2-1 Cyprus
Poland 2-0 Malta

Tuesday, March 25

Moldova 2-3 Estonia
Liechtenstein 0-2 Kazakhstan
Gibraltar 0-4 Czechia
Montenegro 1-0 Faroe Islands
North Macedonia 1-1 Wales
Israel 2-4 Norway

Matchday 3

Friday, June 6

Czechia 2-0 Montenegro
Estonia 1-3 Israel
Gibraltar 0-7 Croatia
North Macedonia 1-1 Belgium
Norway 3-0 Italy — Recap, video highlights
Wales 3-0 Liechtenstein

Saturday, June 7

Bosnia & Herzegovina 1-0 San Marino
Andorra 0-1 England
Malta 0-0 Lithuania
Albania 0-0 Serbia
Austria 2-1 Romania
Finland 0-2 Netherlands

Matchday 4

Monday, June 9

Kazakhstan 0-1 North Macedonia
Belgium 4-3 Wales
Croatia 5-1 Czechia
Estonia 0-1 Norway
Faroe Islands 2-1 Gibraltar
Italy 2-0 Moldova

Tuesday, June 10

Finland 2-1 Poland
Latvia 1-1 Albania
Netherlands 8-0 Malta
Romania 2-0 Cyprus
San Marino 0-4 Austria
Serbia 3-0 Andorra