World Cup 2026: European play-off draw

The eight semi-final ties of the FIFA World Cup 2026 European play-offs have been set following Thursday's draw, with the potential route to the final tournament mapped out for all 16 nations involved.

Who has already qualified?

What are the World Cup 2026 European play-off ties?

Semi-finals (26 March 2026)

Kick-offs 20:45 CET unless stated

Path A
SF1: Italy vs Northern Ireland
SF2: Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina

Path B
SF3: Ukraine vs Sweden
SF4: Poland vs Albania

Path C
SF5: Türkiye vs Romania (18:00 CET)
SF6: Slovakia vs Kosovo

Path D
SF7: Denmark vs North Macedonia
SF8: Czechia vs Republic of Ireland

Finals (31 March 2026)

Path A: Wales / Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy / Northern Ireland

Path B: Ukraine / Sweden vs Poland / Albania

Path C: Slovakia / Kosovo vs Türkiye / Romania

Path D: Czechia / Republic of Ireland vs Denmark / North Macedonia

How did the draw work?

Sixteen teams participate in the European play-offs: 12 runners-up from the European Qualifiers group stage plus four teams that qualified via the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League.

Each play-off path is composed of two semi-final pairings of one seeded team and one unseeded team: pot 1 vs pot 4 and pot 2 vs pot 3.

The seeded teams were drawn to play the play-off semi-final at home. Within each path, the winners of the semi-finals advance to the play-off final. For each play-off final, a draw was conducted to determine which semi-final winner will play at home.

The play-offs are played in single-leg knockout matches, with the four winners proceeding to the final tournament in Canada, Mexico and the United States next summer.

Where and when is the 2026 World Cup?

The finals will be staged between 11 June to 19 July 2026 across 16 cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States:

United States (11): Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle
Mexico (3): Guadalajara, Mexico City, Monterrey
Canada (2): Toronto, Vancouver

The final will be held in New York New Jersey Stadium on 19 July 2026.