ZURICH.- The powers of European football will begin to know on Friday what will be the path to follow to reach the final phase of the World Cup 2026with the draw for the groups of the qualifying phase in Zurich (Switzerland).
But what is decided on Friday will not leave the path completely clarified: the final stretch of the UEFA Nations League overlaps with the start of the World Cup qualifiers, which gives rise to a more complex procedure.
This means that the powers, including the European champion Spain or the world runner-up France, will have to wait for their respective duels in March in the quarterfinals of the Nations League to begin to know their exact fate in the face of the fight. for being in the first World Cup with 48 teams, which will be played in 2026 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
For the moment, the biggest teams are sure to avoid each other in their World Cup qualifying groups.
Spain, France, Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Denmark, England, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria are part of the first cup of the draw and will not compete against each other.
The presence or absence of some of them in the “Final Four” of the Nations League in June will, however, cause the roadmap to vary.
The 54 teams will be divided into six groups of five teams and six of four.
This means, for example, that if Spain manages to eliminate the Netherlands in March in the quarterfinals of the Nations League, it will go to one of the groups of four teams and will not begin its path in the World Cup qualifiers until September 2025. .
On the other hand, if Spain lost in the quarterfinals of the Nations League, it could go to a group of four or one of five. The latter will start in June 2025.
Italy, this time yes?
The chosen formula, with fewer matches in the World Cup qualifiers, can on the one hand simplify the task for the teams, but also complicate it, since a setback can be costly due to the reduced margin of reaction.
For the European powers, the theoretical great rivals would come from Cup 2, which will be made up of Ukraine, Sweden, Turkey, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Norway.
In the European zone groups, the twelve winners will qualify directly and the twelve runners-up will have to go to a playoff to try to earn their World Cup place, along with the four best classified teams in the 2024 UEFA Nations League. 2025 who have not been first or second in their groups.
A somewhat complicated system for the general public, but it will determine the lines of action for the national teams.
Italy, four-time world champion, but which failed to qualify for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, is the most evident proof that falling into the traps along the way can cause tremendous damage. Being in the 2026 event is an obligation no matter what for the Azzurra, the representative of one of the great countries in the history of football.
