England’s path to World Cup 2026 becomes clear with qualifying pots confirmed and chance of tricky meeting with rivals

ENGLAND are set to be among the top seeds for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers after securing their return to Nations League A.

But new boss Thomas Tuchel could potentially face a nightmare encounter with a Home Nations rival as he prepares to guide the Three Lions to the World Cup finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

After a successful Nations League campaign under interim boss Lee Carsley, England have since been placed into qualifying Pot 1.

Each of the Nations League quarter-finalists have also earned an automatic spot in Pot 1. 

That means Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Euro winners Spain will be among the highest-seeded teams.

They have been joined by the four next highest ranking sides in the Fifa Men’s world list: England, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria.

So, for now, England will avoid being grouped with all of the top-listed sides in Pot 1, as no two teams from the same pot can end up in the same group.

However, Tuchel faces being placed in the same qualifying group as some of England’s closest rivals.

Wales will be in Pot 2 after topping their Nations League group to earn promotion to League A.

And England could also be grouped with one of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland in Pot 3.

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The Three Lions will be among those drawn into 12 groups of four or five teams on December 13.

As group winners – and having avoided Nations League play-offs – they are likely to be in a five-team group that starts in March.

England face a 25 per cent chance of being in a four-team group, which means they are more likely to be placed in a five-team group.

The latter is the worse of the two scenarios for Tuchel because it means starting qualifying in March.

The German wouldn’t be able to ease into the job with a couple of friendlies during that March international break as his first two games would count towards qualifying for the World Cup.

Carsley successfully led them back into the Nations League’s top tier with two convincing victories, over Greece and Ireland, in his final games in charge.

By finishing top of Group B2, England are extremely likely to have a World Cup play-off spot banked, with the same situation facing Group B4 winners Wales.

Following England’s 5-0 win over Ireland, Tuchel has avoided a Nations League promotion play-off as his first assignment.

This means he will embark on a fresh Qualifying campaign for the World Cup finals in Canada, Mexico and the United States in 2026.

Best-case scenario for England’s qualifying group of five

As per the current world rankings and pot positions, England could face Pot 2 side Serbia in their qualifying group when it’s drawn in 23 days time.

Another best-case scenario grouping would come against Pot 3 outfit Iceland.

But that hasn’t been an entirely easy fixture in English football as Gareth Southgate’s side found out when they lost 1-0 to Iceland in their final warm-up game before Euro 2024 in June.

England were also memorably, and embarrassingly, dumped out of Euro 2016 in a 2-1 defeat to Iceland in the Round of 16.

The Three Lions will be hoping they were freak results, as they did beat their bogeyteam from the volcanic island in their two games in-between.

Meanwhile, another best-case match-up would be against the Faroe Islands, who are in Pot 4 and have never qualified for the World Cup.

Worst-case scenario for England’s qualifying group of five

Out of all the teams in Pot 2, England will want to avoid being grouped with regional rivals Wales.

While England beat Wales in their World Cup group in Qatar, Tuchel will want to avoid any embarrassing defeats to the Welsh, who under the new leadership of Craig Bellamy, will be hell-bent on causing an upset

But the difficulties in Pot 2 doesn’t stop there. England will also face difficult fixtures against Erling Haaland’s Norway and Sweden.

The worst case scenario from Pot 3 would be Georgia, who shocked everybody with strong performances at Euro 2024.

The Georgian’s boast Napoli star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia among their ranks, with England facing a 2,000 mile trip to the edge of Europe.

The worst-case scenario from Pot 4 would be a long journey to the border of West Asia against Azerbaijan, while Moldova are the best ranked Pot 5 side.

Being in a five team group could mean games in March and June.

This could cause added headaches for Tuchel as several high profile stars are set to play in the Fifa Club World Cup that starts on June 15.

England stars who play for Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich will be expected to play for their club teams.

Clubs wouldn’t be able to block players from playing for England, that’s against the rules, but players could drop out themselves.

Just last week, nine England stars withdrew from Carsley’s final camp citing fitness issues.

How do the 2026 World Cup European Qualifiers work?

A total of 16 Uefa nations will compete at the tournament – an increase of three from the previous edition in 2022.

The European Qualifiers are scheduled to begin in March 2025 and end with the play-offs precisely a year later.

Teams will play each other home and away.

Nations drawn in groups of five will start Qualifying in March and sides drawn in groups of four start their campaigns in September.

All groups conclude in November 2025.

The 12 group winners qualify directly, with the four remaining berths determined by play-offs involving the 12 group runners-up.

Due to the Nations League play-offs in March, it means only four groups will be complete as of December 13.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk