World Cup playoffs bracket: Updated schedule, scores for European and FIFA intercontinental qualifiers in 2026

World Cup playoffs bracket: Updated schedule, scores for European and FIFA intercontinental qualifiers in 2026 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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JUMP TO:

• UEFA PLAYOFFS — 
  • Bracket, fixtures, and schedule
  • Which teams are involved?
  • What World Cup groups will UEFA playoff winners enter?
  • How the UEFA World Cup playoff works
  • History of the UEFA World Cup playoff
• FIFA INTERCONTINENTAL PLAYOFFS — 
  • Bracket, fixtures, and schedule
  • Which teams are involved?
  • What World Cup groups will FIFA playoff winners enter?
  • How the FIFA intercontinental playoff works
  • History of the FIFA intercontinental playoff
  • How FIFA playoff qualifiers have done at each World Cup

With the expanded 2026 World Cup field of 48 near completion, only six more places are to be decided.

Forty-two teams have already booked their places at this summer's competition, and final slots will be claimed during the March international break.

Four of those teams will hail from Europe, with the UEFA qualification playoffs to be contested over the next week. The other two will be decided at the intercontinental playoffs, officially called the FIFA World Cup Play-Off Tournament, which see nations from across the globe compete for the last available places at the expanded finals.

The Sporting News brings you the bracket, schedule, teams involved, and eventual World Cup places to be claimed for the 2026 qualifying playoffs.

2026 WORLD CUP HQ:Live World Cup playoff scores | Full World Cup schedule | Buy World Cup tickets

Which teams are in 2026 World Cup UEFA playoffs?

The UEFA playoffs are filled out by 16 teams divided into four mini four-team brackets.

Twelve of the participants earned their place in the competition by finishing in second in their European qualifying groups. The other four sides were the best-ranked UEFA Nations League group winners who did not already qualify for the World Cup or the playoffs.

NationQualified viaFIFA rankSlovakiaGroup A runner-up44KosovoGroup B runner-up79DenmarkGroup C runner-up21UkraineGroup D runner-up30TurkeyGroup E runner-up25Rep. of IrelandGroup F runner-up59PolandGroup G runner-up34Bosnia & HerzegovinaGroup H runner-up71ItalyGroup I runner-up13WalesGroup J runner-up35AlbaniaGroup K runner-up63CzechiaGroup L runner-up43RomaniaUEFA Nations League49SwedenUEFA Nations League42Northern IrelandUEFA Nations League69North MacedoniaUEFA Nations League65

MORE:How the UEFA World Cup playoffs and FIFA intercontinental playoffs work in 2026

UEFA World Cup playoff schedule, bracket, matches

The schedule for the UEFA playoffs was determined at the draw on Thursday, November 20, 2025.

The semifinals are projected to take place on March 26, 2026, with the finals of each pathway five days later on March 31.

Pathway A

Semifinal

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 26, 20262:45 p.m.Italy 2-0 Northern IrelandNew Balance Arena (Bergamo, Italy)March 26, 20262:45 p.m.Wales 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia & Herzegovina adv. 4-3 on pensCardiff City Stadium (Cardiff, Wales)

Final

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 31, 20262:45 p.m.Bosnia & Herzegovina vs. ItalyTBD (Bosnia & Herzegovina host)

Pathway B

Semifinal

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 26, 20262:45 p.m.Ukraine 1-3 SwedenEstadi Ciutat de Valencia (Valencia, Spain)March 26, 20262:45 p.m.Poland 2-1 AlbaniaPGE Narodowy (Warsaw, Poland)

Final

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 31, 20262:45 p.m.Sweden vs. PolandTBD (Sweden host)

Pathway C

Semifinal

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 26, 202612 p.m.Turkey 1-0 RomaniaBesiktas Stadyumu (Istanbul, Turkey)March 26, 20262:45 p.m.Slovakia 3-4 Kosovo Tehelne pole (Bratislava, Slovakia)

Final

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 31, 20262:45 p.m.Kosovo vs. TurkeyTBD (Kosovo host)

Pathway D

Semifinal

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 26, 20262:45 p.m.Denmark 4-0 North MacedoniaParken (Copenhagen, Denmark)March 26, 20262:45 p.m.Czechia 2-2 Republic of Ireland
Czechia adv. 4-3 on pensFortuna Arena (Prague-Vrsovice, Czechia)

Final

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 31, 20262:45 p.m.Czechia vs. DenmarkTBD (Czechia winner host)

Which World Cup groups do UEFA playoff winners enter?

The UEFA playoff paths, like their intercontinental counterparts, were placed into Pot 4 for the group-stage draw because the individual qualifiers were not known at the time. That meant a potentially more difficult group stage for the teams that progress.

The pathways were drawn as follows:

• UEFA Playoff A: Group B (Canada, Qatar, Switzerland)
• UEFA Playoff B: Group F (Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia)
• UEFA Playoff C: Group D (USA, Paraguay, Australia)
• UEFA Playoff D: Group A (Mexico, South Africa, South Korea)

WORLD CUP DRAW BREAKDOWNS:

Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | Group E | Group F
Group G | Group H | Group I | Group J | Group K | Group L

How UEFA World Cup qualifying playoffs work

The format for UEFA World Cup qualifying had to undergo another change for 2026, given the expanded field at the final tournament.

In total, 54 competing UEFA nations were assigned to 12 different qualifying groups. Those groups saw matches take place in a round-robin format over the course of 2025, concluding in November. The teams that finished top of each group qualified automatically for the World Cup, while the 12 runners-up earned a place in the playoffs.

In addition, the four best-ranked group winners from the latest UEFA Nations League who failed to qualify automatically for the World Cup were also added to the playoffs.

There are four pathways determined in the draw, with a semifinal and final in each. The semifinals are held at the home of the seeded (highest-ranked) teams, while the home sides for each final are decided by a different draw.

Each semifinal and final is a single-elimination contest, with extra time and penalties used if necessary. The winners of the four finals will qualify for the World Cup.

History of UEFA World Cup playoffs

UEFA has been using a playoff system for World Cup qualifying since 2010, when European teams were placed into a separate playoff bracket from the remaining confederations.

In the first iteration of the UEFA playoff, eight teams qualified and were matched up by random draw in four two-legged pairings to determine the four qualifiers. It remained this way until the 2022 cycle when it was changed to the current format.

YearQualifierDefeated in Final2010FranceRep. of IrelandPortugalBosnia & HerzegovinaGreeceUkraineSloveniaRussia2014PortugalSwedenFranceUkraineGreeceRomaniaCroatiaIceland2018SwitzerlandNorthern IrelandCroatiaGreeceDenmarkRep. of IrelandSwedenItaly2022WalesUkrainePolandSwedenPortugalNorth Macedonia

Which teams are in 2026 World Cup intercontinental playoffs?

There are six teams in total who qualified for the intercontinental playoffs: one each from the AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL and OFC confederations, and two from CONCACAF.

NationConfederationQualified viaFIFA rankIraq*AFCAFC playoff winner57DR Congo*CAFCAF playoff winner60JamaicaCONCACAFHighest-ranking group runner-up68SurinameCONCACAFSecond highest-ranking group runner-up126BoliviaCONMEBOLSeventh-place finisher76New CaledoniaOFCQualifying tournament runner-up150

Intercontinental playoff schedule, bracket

The schedule for the intercontinental playoffs was determined at the draw on Thursday, November 20, 2025.

All games will be staged in Mexico, with games at both Estadio Akron in Guadalajara and Estadio BBVA in Monterrey.

Pathway 1

Semifinal

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 267 p.m.New Caledonia vs. JamaicaEstadio Akron (Guadalajara)

Final

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 312 p.m.DR Congo vs. Semifinal winnerEstadio Akron (Guadalajara)

Pathway 2

Semifinal

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 261 p.m.Bolivia vs. SurinameEstadio BBVA (Monterrey)

Final

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 318 p.m.Iraq vs. Semifinal winnerEstadio BBVA (Monterrey)

MORE:Updated list of teams to have qualified for the biggest World Cup ever

Which World Cup groups do playoff winners enter?

FIFA placed all playoff paths for both UEFA and the intercontinental branches in Pot 4 for the draw on December 5, presenting them with potentially difficult group-stage schedules.

Path 1 of the intercontinental playoff was drawn into Group K, with Portugal, Uzbekistan, and Colombia. Path 2 was placed in Group I alongside France, Senegal and Norway — a potential Group of Death thanks in part to Norway's rise in performance level over the past year.

WORLD CUP DRAW BREAKDOWNS:

Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | Group E | Group F
Group G | Group H | Group I | Group J | Group K | Group L

How FIFA intercontinental playoffs work

The structure of the FIFA World Cup playoff format has been simplified in recent qualification cycles.

Based on the amount of cross-continental travel, often in the middle of the domestic season for players, objections were raised with criticisms over unfair advantages to 'stronger' confederations.

FIFA had the intercontinental playoffs for 2022 played at a neutral venue in Qatar. Since the matches were played on neutral turf, they were completed across a single 90-minute game rather than two legs played home and away. Extra time and penalties were used, if necessary.

The only regional confederation without a spot in the intercontinental playoffs is Europe (UEFA), which has its own playoff tournament.

Intercontinental playoff qualifiers at the World Cup

The intercontinental playoffs structure has offered nations an additional route to the biggest competition in international football.

The majority of sides have bowed out in the group stages after reaching the tournament, but a shot at the World Cup has allowed fans from nations outside of the established elite the chance to be involved.

YearQualified Nation(s)Playoff OpponentResultWorld Cup
stage reached1974ChileSoviet Union2-0 on agg.Group Stage1978HungaryBolivia9-2 on agg.Group Stage1982————1986ScotlandAustralia2-0 on agg.Group Stage1990ColombiaIsrael1-0 on agg.Round of 161994ArgentinaAustralia2-1 on agg.Round of 161998IranAustralia3-3 on agg.
(away goals)Group Stage2002Rep of IrelandIran2-1 on agg.Round of 16UruguayAustralia3-1 on agg.Group Stage2006Trinidad & TobagoBahrain2-1 on agg.Group StageAustraliaUruguay1-1 on agg.
(4-2 PKs)Round of 162010New ZealandBahrain1-0 on agg.Group StageUruguayCosta Rica2-1 on agg.Semifinal2014UruguayJordan5-0 on agg.Round of 16MexicoNew Zealand9-3 on agg.Round of 162018AustraliaHonduras3-1 on agg.Group StagePeruNew Zealand2-0 on agg.Group Stage2022AustraliaPeru0-0 on agg.
(5-4 PKs)Round of 16Costa RicaNew Zealand1-0Group Stage

MORE:All the countries making their World Cup debut in 2026

History of FIFA intercontinental playoffs

FIFA introduced intercontinental playoffs into World Cup qualification cycles ahead of the 1974 tournament in West Germany.

However, the inaugural game was dogged by political controversy after the Soviet Union side refused to travel to Chile for the return leg in Santiago following a coup d'etat in the country, with the Chileans given a walkover into the competition.

Since then, the intercontinental playoff structure has been an ever-present part of World Cup qualifying with 1982 the only exception. The matchups changed from 1986 onwards.

UEFA vs. CONMEBOL was replaced by UEFA vs. OFC or CONMEBOL vs. OFC, before becoming a four-team set-up ahead of the 1994 World Cup, only for another temporary reversal ahead of France '98.

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