Italy-Northern Ireland, Denmark-North Macedonia… 2026 World Cup European zone play-off poster

The draw for the European zone play-offs takes place on Thursday, and will pit Italy against Northern Ireland in March to secure their ticket to the World Cup.

After qualifying for the first 12 qualifying groups, there are still four places up for grabs in the European zone for the 2026 World Cup. These four additional tickets will be given to the winners of the play-off round, the draw for which will be held on Thursday, November 20. This play-off is divided into four paths, where each path will be a mini-final knockout phase with two semifinal rounds and one final. The four winners of the four-way final will earn tickets to North America.

And Italy, the biggest nation involved in these play-offs and absent from the last two World Cups, knows its opponent. It is Northern Ireland who he will face in the semi-finals, before possibly crossing swords in the final with the winner of the duel between Wales and Bosnia Herzegovina to win one of the four tickets.

Another big fish in the play-offs, Denmark inherits North Macedonia, who have knocked out… Italy in the 2022 World Cup play-offs. In the event of a win, it Danish Dynamite will challenge the Czech Republic or Ireland, the other semi-final opponents, in the final.

The top teams, based on FIFA rankings, are drawn to play the play-off semi-finals at home. For each play-off final, a draw is held first to determine which semi-final winner will play at home. The semifinal round will take place on Thursday 26 March and the final on Tuesday 31 March 2026.