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Which country is hosting the 2026 World Cup?
The tournament will break as it is hosted by THREE countries for the first time ever.
The United States, Canada and Mexico will host games from 11 June.
The World Cup will start on 11 June in Mexico City and end on 19 July in New Jersey.
The expanded 48-team tournament will last a record 39 days.
The new format will feature 12 four-team groups and a last-32 knockout round for the first time.
When are the World Cup qualifying games?
The games will be held over 10 matchdays during five international breaks.
Those international breaks are 21-25 March, 6-10 June, 4-9 September, 9-14 October and 13-18 November.
However no team will play World Cup qualifiers on all of those dates because there is a maximum of eight games.
Groups of five will start in March, others will start in June and four-team groups will not start until September.
The play-offs will be held between 26-31 March 2026.
Check out SunSport’s simulated draw ahead of the real thing in 30 minutes time…
Who can England be grouped with in the World Cup qualifying draw?
England, thanks to their ranking and recent performances in major tournaments, have the advantage of being in Pot 1.
As a top seed, Thomas Tuchel’s side will avoid heavyweights like Spain, France, Germany, Italy and others.
However, the Three Lions could still find themselves in a challenging group, with Greece, Ukraine, Norway, Sweden, Turkey and Wales all in Pot 2.
There’s also the chance of some Home Nation derbies, with Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland all in Pot 3.
In terms of the worse-case scenario, this is who England could face in a nightmare group…
And what about the play-offs?
The 12 teams that finish second in their qualifying groups will be joined by the four highest-ranked group winners in the 2024-25 Nations League that didn’t finish first or second in their qualifying groups.
The 16 nations will be separated into four play-off paths of four teams each, with single-legged semifinals and finals deciding the final four joining the 12 group winners as Uefa’s 16 representatives at the World Cup.
How does World Cup qualifying work?
The format for European qualifying has changed, with more groups – and smaller ones than before.
There will be 12 World Cup qualifying groups.
Six will have four teams (A-F) and six will have five teams (G-L).
Teams will play each other home and away as usual.
The top team from each group qualifies automatically for the World Cup, with the runners-up going into the play-offs with four Nations League teams.
Four of the 16 play-off teams will qualify for the tournament.
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