News (engl.)

The Germany national team know their possible paths for the European Qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup following Friday’s draw in Zurich. Due to the DFB-Team’s participation in the inaugural quarter-finals of the UEFA Nations League, Julian Nagelsmann’s side have two different sets of possible opponents for qualifying on the road to Canada, Mexico and the USA in 2026 (11th June to 29th July).

Should Germany beat Italy in their two-legged quarter-final (20th and 23rd March 2025) and reach the Final Four, the 2014 world champions would enter the four-team Group A against Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg. However, if the Azzurri come out on top, a five-nation Group I awaits the DFB-Team featuring Norway, Israel, Estonia and Moldova. The draw was made on Friday lunchtime at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich by 174-time Germany Women’s international Arian Hingst, former World Cup winners Fernando Llorente, Gianluca Zambrotta and Robert Pires, as well as retired Lionesses player Rachel Yankey. Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann watched the draw unfold live in Switzerland.

DFB-Team seeded in Pot 1

As one of the Nations League quarter-finalists alongside Italy, Netherlands, Croatia, France, Denmark, Portugal and European champions Spain, the Germany national team were seeded in Pot 1, which also featured the four next best European teams in the FIFA World Rankings (England, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria). They were then drawn into the twelve different groups, with six five-team groups and six made up of four teams.

The 12 group winners will directly qualify for the 2026 World Cup, with the four remaining qualifying berths for European nations being decided via play-offs. There, the 12 runners-up will be combined with the four best-placed group winners from the Nations League that haven’t already secured qualification and drawn into four paths, playing two rounds of single-match ties. Having won their Nations League division A group, Germany are guaranteed at least a play-off spot should they finish outside the top two of their qualifying group.

World Cup qualifying will begin in March 2025, with the group phase concluding in November. As usual, teams will play both home and away matches. The play-offs will be held in March 2026. The five-team groups will quick off their qualifying campaigns next March, with the four-team groups starting later in the year in September.