2026 World Cup European qualifiers: Which countries are in the first tier?

According to official news from FIFA, the teams in each tier of the 2026 World Cup European qualifiers have been determined. Twelve teams including France, Spain, England, etc. are ranked in the first tier, and the draw ceremony will be held on December 13th local time.

According to the latest draw rules, the first tier of teams includes the top eight teams in the UEFA Nations League A and the four teams with the highest world rankings other than them as seeded teams. The remaining teams will be placed in tiers 2-5 based on the latest world rankings.

Pot 1: France, Spain, England, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria

Pot 2: Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Norway

Pot 3: Scotland, Slovenia, Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel

Pot 4: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Kosovo, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Lithuania

Pot 5: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino