England, under the new leadership of Thomas Tuchel, will face Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra in their quest to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The German coach, who officially takes over on January 1, can take heart from the fact that England have never been defeated by any of these teams.
Scotland, on the other hand, are in a four-team group and will compete against either Portugal or Denmark, depending on the outcome of the Nations League quarter-final tie, as well as Greece and Belarus. Steve Clarke’s squad also face a Nations League promotion-relegation play-off against Greece in March.
Wales find themselves in a group with Belgium, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein, aiming to qualify for their second consecutive World Cup. They previously faced Belgium in the last World Cup qualifiers and more recently in the 2022 Nations League.
Despite their famous 3-1 victory over Belgium in the Euro 2016 semi-finals, they haven’t won any of the subsequent four encounters. The Republic of Ireland will compete against the winner of the Portugal v Denmark Nations League tie, along with Hungary and Romania.
Like Scotland, they also face a Nations League promotion-relegation play-off tie in March, against Bulgaria. Northern Ireland will be up against either Germany or Italy – both four-time World Cup winners – plus Slovakia and Luxembourg, as they aim for their first qualification since 1986.
England have only taken on Serbia once before as a single nation, having faced them during the Euros, with Jude Bellingham scoring the crucial goal in their group stage clash. The Three Lions boast a flawless record against Albania, winning all six encounters, all of which were World Cup qualifiers, including a resounding 5-0 victory at Wembley in November 2021.
Latvia presents a fresh challenge for England, having never met at senior level, while Andorra is a familiar foe from the Qatar qualifying campaign, where England secured comfortable wins of 4-0 and 5-0.
When quizzed by BBC Radio 5 Live about coming up against Serbia and Albania, Tuchel replied: “They are always very talented individual players, a very emotional group, a very emotional crowd. So they can always surprise.
“We have to take this very seriously. It’s a first fixture with Latvia, so a new challenge for all of us.
“And then we are clear favourites, of course, against Andorra, but qualification is key now. Qualification is top priority. We have to be serious. We have to be determined, and we have to show what we’re up for in this group of five.”
When questioned about his confidence in topping the group, Tuchel expressed caution: “I don’t see it as a given. The gap closes more and more between the big nations and the small nations. You see it in the Euros lately.
“There are no such thing as results that are already done before the match is played. The smaller nations have become stronger and stronger. So we have to earn our place. We have to earn our top spot.”
Wales head coach Craig Bellamy expressed his satisfaction with being drawn into a five-team group and returning to Belgium, where he previously worked as an assistant to Vincent Kompany at Anderlecht. “It’s a good group, we’re going to have to do our homework really well, and hopefully try and attack it and finish top of the group,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
The qualifying process is set to commence in March for the five-team groups, while the four-team groups will begin in September. A total of 16 European nations will secure their spots in the finals, which will feature 48 teams for the first time.
The group winners will automatically qualify, and the runners-up will participate in play-offs in March 2026, alongside the four top-ranked Nations League group winners who did not win their World Cup qualifying group or finish as runners-up. These play-offs will determine the final four European qualifiers.
