FIFA World Cup 26™ tickets: 16
Dates
Europe’s World Cup 26 qualifying competition is scheduled to begin in March 2025 and conclude in March 2026.
Teams qualified for FIFA World Cup 26™
None
Eliminated
None
How qualifying works
The first round will follow a familiar format, with 12 groups of four or five teams, and the section winners securing World Cup slots.
The continent’s four remaining berths will then be settled in a 16-team UEFA play-off competition involving the 12 group runners-up and four best-ranked UEFA Nations League section winners.
Top scorers from previous European qualifying campaigns
1958: Tommy Taylor (England): 8 goals
1962: Andrej Kvasnak (Czechoslovakia): 7
1966: Eusebio (Portugal): 7
1970: Gerd Muller (West Germany): 9
1974: Hristo Bonev (Bulgaria), Johan Cruyff (Netherlands), Gigi Riva (Italy), Joachim Streich (East Germany): 7
1978: Roberto Bettega (Italy): 9
1982: Karl-Heinz Rummenigge (West Germany): 9
1986: Preben Ekjaer (Denmark): 8
1990: Marc van der Linden (Belgium): 7
1994: Florin Raducioiu (Romania): 9
1998: Predrag Mijatovic (Yugoslavia): 14
2002: Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine): 10
2006: Pauleta (Portugal): 11
2010: Theofanis Gekas (Greece): 10
2014: Robin van Persie (Netherlands): 11
2018: Robert Lewandowski (Poland): 16
2022: Harry Kane (England), Memphis Depay (Netherlands): 12
FIFA World Cup™ winners from UEFA
Germany: 4 titles
Italy: 4
France: 2
Spain: 1
England: 1
