World Cup 2026 qualifying draw: Thomas Tuchel, England grouped with Serbia

Thomas Tuchel’s first official duty as England coach on Friday was to see his new team drawn in a 2026 World Cup qualifying group with Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra.

Tuchel starts work in January as the first German coach of the 1966 World Cup winner but was at FIFA headquarters to see the 54 European teams drawn into 12 qualifying groups. Games start in March for some groups, while others will begin in June or September.

“It’s a difficult group, is my first impression,” said Tuchel, who must wait for FIFA to approve the fixture list to see if his England debut will be a qualifying game in March or a warm-up friendly.

Europe will send 16 teams to the first 48-team World Cup, being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. The 12 group winners next November advance directly and runners-up go to a playoff in March 2026, joined by four more teams who won a Nations League group last month.

England is one of the few top-seeded teams to already know its qualifying opponents. Most groups are still incomplete as eight top-seeded teams will be placed based on the results of their Nations League quarterfinals in March.

The winner of the quarterfinal between European champion Spain and the Netherlands faces a tough Group E with Turkey, Georgia and Bulgaria.

Spain ended Georgia’s impressive run at its first major tournament, winning 4-1 in the round of 16 at Euro 2024 in Germany.

Georgia coach Willy Sagnol acknowledged “it will be a difficult group,” with Turkey having lost 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 less challenging.

The winner between France and Croatia in March will head Group D with Ukraine, Iceland and Azerbaijan. The loser of that Nations League quarterfinal will be in the five-team Group L with the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Faeroe Islands and Gibraltar.

For Germany and Italy, the group draw could be an added incentive to win their Nations League meeting and land in Group A.

Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann acknowledged it would be “a bit easier” to play in a four-team group with Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg. The loser will face Erling Haaland and Norway in a five-team group that also includes, Israel, Estonia and Moldova. Israel has been unable to host games for security reasons since the Hamas attacks in October last year, and likely will continue playing home games in Hungary.

Russia was excluded from Friday’s draw because its teams are banned from international competitions by FIFA and UEFA since the military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Russia’s military ally Belarus, which will play in a group with either Portugal or Denmark, plus Greece and Scotland, has been forced to host games in neutral countries because of the war.

One security challenge could arise in England’s group, with Serbia set to host Albania for the first time since the famous “drone game” in 2014 between the Balkan near-neighbors.

A decade ago, the game in Belgrade abandoned after a fan outside the stadium flew a drone over the field with an Albanian nationalist banner, leading to clashes between players and a field invasion by Serbian fans. UEFA awarded Serbia a win by default that was overturned on appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, ultimately sending Albania to its tournament debut at Euro 2016.

Soccer relations between Serbia and Albania — at federation level, if not among ultras fan groups — are much improved and they are set to be confirmed Monday as co-hosts of the Under-21 Euros in 2027.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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