2026 World Cup Qualifying Draw: Key Details for Teams
The 2026 World Cup, scheduled from June 11 to July 19, 2026, will be co-hosted by Mexico, the United States, and Canada. As anticipation builds, the qualifying draw for European teams is set to take place on December 13, 2024, in Zurich, Switzerland. This draw will determine the future opponents for 54 European teams, including the French national team, known as Les Bleus, and the Israeli national team, which is looking to make a mark in the upcoming qualifiers.
Teams will be divided into 12 groups, with six groups containing five teams and six groups containing four. The top team from each group will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the second-placed teams will enter a playoff stage to compete for the remaining spots. The qualifying matches for groups of five will commence in March 2025, while those in groups of four will begin in September 2025. The playoff matches are scheduled for March 2026, just three months before the tournament kicks off.
France and Israel: Different Aspirations in the Qualifiers
The French team, led by coach Didier Deschamps, is among the favorites, having been placed in Hat 1 alongside other football powerhouses like Spain, England, and Germany. They will aim to secure their spot early by winning their group. Meanwhile, the Israeli team, which has shown promise with a recent draw against France and a victory over Belgium in the Nations League, is placed in Hat 3. Although the Israeli Football Association has tempered expectations regarding World Cup advancement, the emergence of young talent offers a glimmer of hope for a historic qualification.
The Draw Process and Group Distribution
The draw will feature five pots, with the distribution as follows: - Hat 1: France, Spain, England, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria. - Hat 2: Ukraine, Turkey, Sweden, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Norway. - Hat 3: Scotland, Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel. - Hat 4: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Kosovo, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Lithuania. - Hat 5: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino.
As teams prepare for the draw, the excitement surrounding the 2026 World Cup continues to grow, with both France and Israel looking to navigate their paths to the tournament.
