Thomas Tuchel’s first official obligation as England coach on Friday was to see his new staff drawn in a 2026 World Cup qualifying group with Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra.
Tuchel begins work in January as the primary German coach of the 1966 World Cup winner however was at FIFA headquarters to see the 54 European groups drawn into 12 qualifying teams. Video games begin in March for some teams, whereas others will start in June or September.
“It is a tough group, is my first impression,” mentioned Tuchel, who should look ahead to FIFA to approve the fixture record to see if his England debut might be a qualifying sport in March or a warm-up pleasant.
Europe will ship 16 groups to the primary 48-team World Cup, being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. The 12 group winners subsequent November advance instantly and runners-up go to a playoff in March 2026, joined by 4 extra groups who gained a Nations League group final month.
England is likely one of the few top-seeded groups to already know its qualifying opponents. Most teams are nonetheless incomplete as eight top-seeded groups might be positioned based mostly on the outcomes of their Nations League quarterfinals in March.
The winner of the quarterfinal between European champion Spain and the Netherlands faces a troublesome Group E with Turkey, Georgia and Bulgaria.
Spain ended Georgia’s spectacular run at its first main event, profitable 4-1 within the spherical of 16 at Euro 2024 in Germany.
Georgia coach Willy Sagnol acknowledged “it will likely be a tough group,” with Turkey having misplaced a Euro 2024 quarterfinal to the Netherlands.
The loser between Spain and the Netherlands be in a five-team group with Poland, Finland, Lithuania and Malta that shapes to be much less difficult.
The winner between France and Croatia in March will head Group D with Ukraine, Iceland and Azerbaijan. The loser of that Nations League quarterfinal might be within the five-team Group L with the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Faeroe Islands and Gibraltar.
For Germany and Italy, the group draw may very well be an added incentive to win their Nations League assembly and land in Group A.
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann acknowledged it might be “a bit simpler” to play in a four-team group with Slovakia, Northern Eire and Luxembourg. The loser will face Erling Haaland and Norway in a five-team group that additionally consists of, Israel, Estonia and Moldova. Israel has been unable to host video games for safety causes for the reason that Hamas assaults in October final yr, and certain will proceed enjoying residence video games in Hungary.
Russia was excluded from Friday’s draw as a result of its groups are banned from worldwide competitions by FIFA and UEFA for the reason that navy invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia’s navy ally Belarus, which can play in a bunch with both Portugal or Denmark, plus Greece and Scotland, has been pressured to host video games in impartial nations due to the battle.
One safety problem may come up in England’s group, with Serbia set to host Albania for the primary time for the reason that well-known “drone sport” in 2014 between the Balkan near-neighbors.
A decade in the past, the sport in Belgrade deserted after a fan outdoors the stadium flew a drone over the sector with an Albanian nationalist banner, resulting in clashes between gamers and a area invasion by Serbian followers. UEFA awarded Serbia a win by default that was overturned on enchantment to the Courtroom of Arbitration for Sport, finally sending Albania to its event debut at Euro 2016.
Soccer relations between Serbia and Albania — at federation degree, if not amongst ultras fan teams — are a lot improved and they’re set to be confirmed Monday as co-hosts of the Below-21 Euros in 2027.
Reporting by The Related Press.
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