The draw for the European qualification will take place on December 13 in Zurich.
The Ukrainian national football team lost its chances of getting into the first basket during the draw for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers after the October matches of the 2024/25 Nations League year.
Serhiy Rebrov's team will definitely end up in the second basket, as it occupies 13th place in the European national team ranking, and the first basket will include the top 12. Ukraine is 37 points behind Austria, which is in 12th place.
16 European teams will qualify for the 2026 World Cup: 12 group winners will directly qualify for the final stage of the Mundial. Another four tickets to the planetary championship will be played for in the playoffs, where 12 runners-up of the World Cup qualifying groups and the four best group winners of the 2024/25 Nations League, who finish lower than second place in the group stage of qualification, will compete.
The draw for the European qualification for the 2026 World Cup will be held on December 13 in Zurich. During the draw, 54 teams will be divided into 12 groups of 4 or 5 teams.
Recall that the 2026 World Cup will be held in three countries at once – the United States, Canada and Mexico. This World Cup will be the first in which 48 teams will participate. From 1998 to 2022, the World Cup used a 32-team format.