FIFA (International Football Federation) defined the European and intercontinental playoff matches for the 2026 World Cup, in a draw held this Thursday (20), in Zurich, Switzerland.
In the European playoff, between March 26th and 31st, 16 teams will face each other in a knockout format tournament, with two rounds, for four remaining places in the World Cup.
Four-time world champions, Italy will face Northern Ireland in the first round. If they advance, the Italian team will face the winner of the clash between Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Italians hope to avoid the painful elimination they suffered in the play-offs for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, against Sweden and North Macedonia, respectively.
War-torn Ukraine will face a star-studded Swedish team that could feature Liverpool strikers Alexander Isak and Arsenal strikers Viktor Gyokeres.
The winner of the match between Swedes and Ukrainians will face whoever passes in the match between Poland and Albania.
Ireland, who reached the play-offs thanks to Troy Parrott’s late goal that secured a 3-2 victory against Hungary on Sunday (16), will have to travel to the Czech Republic.
The winner of this match will receive whoever passes the semi-final between Denmark and North Macedonia.
Turkey will face Romania, who surprisingly reached the quarter-finals the last time the tournament was played in the United States, in 1994.
The winner of that game will face Slovakia or Kosovo, who are looking to reach the World Cup for the first time in their history.
International repechage will feature Bolivia x Suriname and New Caledonia x Jamaica
In the international repechage, without the participation of European teams, six teams will be divided into two main draws, each giving the right to a place in the World Cup. The games will also be played between March 26th and 31st, in the Mexican cities of Guadalajara and Monterrey.
In one of the brackets, Iraq will await the winner of the clash between Bolivia, which is seeking its fourth participation in the World Cup, and Suriname, a former Dutch colony that historically provided the Netherlands team with some of its greatest players and is now dreaming of its first qualification.
Iraq, which is better placed in the FIFA rankings, will not need to compete in the semi-final. The “Lions of Mesopotamia” only played in one edition of the World Cup, in 1986.
In the other group, New Caledonia and Jamaica will face each other in the semi-final, and the winner will face the Democratic Republic of Congo in the final for a place in next year’s World Cup, hosted jointly by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
