Who is in each pot?
Pot 1: Italy, Denmark, Turkey, Ukraine.
The sides who qualified for the play-offs via the Nations League, including Northern Ireland, will be draw away from home against one of these pot 1 teams. No one will want to meet four-time World Cup winners Italy, despite their underwhelming qualifying campaign in which they were beaten to top spot by the Erling Haaland-powered Norway. Denmark contrived to throw away their automatic spot but will fancy their chances of progressing through the play-offs, while Turkey and Ukraine will not be easy opponents either.
Lawrence Ostlere20 November 2025 09:44
Who is in the play-offs?
The 12 group runners-up, including the Republic of Ireland and Wales, will be joined by the four best-ranked teams from the previous Nations League campaign who failed to finish in the top-two of first qualifying round, such as Northern Ireland.
The 16 teams will be split into four pots of four teams. Pot A to Pot C will be the 12 group runners-up and determined on Fifa ranking. Italy, who are ranked ninth and the highest-ranked European side to fail to automatically qualify, will be in Pot A, for example. Pot D will be the four teams who qualified via the Nations League.
Group runners-up: Italy, Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, Czech Republic, Kosovo, Denmark, Turkey, Wales, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Nations League teams: Romania, Sweden, Northern Ireland, North Macedonia.
Lawrence Ostlere20 November 2025 09:36
World Cup play-off draw
Northern Ireland picked up a narrow win over Luxembourg, but qualified for the play-offs through the Nations League.
Lawrence Ostlere20 November 2025 09:28
World Cup play-off draw live
Hello and welcome to a huge day in the race to reach the 2026 World Cup, as 16 European nations discover their route to the tournament.
Lawrence Ostlere20 November 2025 09:19
