2026 World Cup: Northern Ireland find out qualifying opponents
Their ties will begin next September
Last updated 13th Dec 2024
Northern Ireland will face the winners of Germany or Italy to qualify for World Cup 2026 in the USA.
Michael O'Neill's side were drawn in Group A this morning in Switzerland, and are in the four-team group, alongside Slovakia and Luxembourg.
They'll have to wait until the conclusion of the Nations League to find out if they will play Julian Nagelsmann's Germany or Luciano Spaletti's Italy.
The Germans and Italians, both former World Cup winners, will play each other in the Nations League quarter-finals in March and the winner of that last eight tie will then meet Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Luxembourg in the Group A qualifiers next autumn.
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill said: “It’s an exciting and demanding draw, which is to be expected. We will have to be at our very best for every fixture.
“But this is a young team we are building and I know the desire will be there when the games come round in September.”
The Republic of Ireland are in Group F, paired with the winner of Portugal v Denmark, Hungary and Armenia.
England will be in Group K alongside Serbia, Albania, Latvia and , while Scotland face the losers of the Portugal v Denmark tie, Greece and Belarus in Group C.
Wales are drawn in Group J, with Belgium, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein.
In next year’s European qualifiers, the competing teams will play each other home and away. Teams drawn in groups of five will start qualifying in March and teams drawn in groups of four will begin their campaigns in September.
The expansion of FIFA’s flagship event ahead of the 2026 instalment – the next World Cup is set to feature 48 teams - means the number of places for UEFA member nations will increase from 13 to 16.
And that also means the four remaining European places will be decided in March 2026 in a 16-team UEFA play-off involving the 12 group stage runners-up and the four best-ranked UEFA Nations League 2024-25 group winners that have neither qualified directly for the FIFA World Cup as group winners nor entered the play-offs already as group runners-up.