Thomas Tuchel’s first official job as England supervisor on Friday was to see his new staff drawn in a 2026 World Cup qualifying group with Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra.
Tuchel will start work in January as the primary German coach of the 1966 World Cup winner, however was at FIFA headquarters to observe the 54 European groups drawn into the 12 qualifying teams. Games start in March for some teams, whereas others will start in June or September.
“It’s a troublesome group, that is my first impression,” stated Tuchel, who should anticipate FIFA approval to see whether or not his England debut might be a qualifier in March or a warm-up pleasant.
Europe will ship 16 groups to the primary 48-team World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico. The 12 winners of subsequent November’s teams will advance immediately and the runners-up will go to the playoffs in March 2026, together with 4 different groups who gained a Nations League group final month.
England are one of many few top-seeded groups to already know their opponents have certified. Most of the teams are nonetheless incomplete because the eight top-seeded groups might be positioned primarily based on the outcomes of the Nations League quarter-finals in March.
The winner of the quarter-finals between European champions Spain and the Netherlands faces a troublesome Group E with Türkiye, Georgia and Bulgaria.
Spain ended Georgia’s spectacular run at their first main event, successful 4-1 within the spherical of 16 at Euro 2024 in Germany.
Highlights Spain-Georgia | UEFAEuro 2024 | Round of 16
Georgia coach Willy Sagnol acknowledged that “it will likely be a troublesome group”, with Turkey having misplaced a Euro 2024 quarter-final to the Netherlands.
The loser between Spain and the Netherlands will discover itself in a five-team group with Poland, Finland, Lithuania and Malta which guarantees to be much less difficult.
The winner between France and Croatia in March will lead Group D with Ukraine, Iceland and Azerbaijan. The loser of the Nations League quarter-finals will play in five-team Group L with the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Faroe Islands and Gibraltar.
For Germany and Italy, the group draw might be an additional incentive to win the Nations League match and attain Group A.
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann acknowledged that it might be “slightly simpler” 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 additionally consists of Israel, Estonia and Moldova. Israel was unable to host matches for safety causes after Hamas assaults in October final 12 months, and can possible proceed to play its house matches in Hungary.
Russia was excluded from Friday’s draw as a result of its groups had been banned from worldwide competitions by FIFA and UEFA following the navy invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia’s navy ally Belarus, which can play in a gaggle with Portugal or Denmark, in addition to Greece and Scotland, has been compelled to host matches in impartial international locations as a result of warfare.
A safety problem may come up within the English group, with Serbia set to host Albania for the primary time for the reason that well-known “drone game” in 2014 among the many Balkan neighbors.
Ten years in the past, the match in Belgrade was suspended after a fan exterior the stadium flew a drone carrying an Albanian nationalist banner onto the pitch, resulting in clashes between gamers and a pitch invasion by Serbian followers. UEFA awarded Serbia a victory by default, which was overturned on enchantment to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, finally sending Albania to its event debut at Euro 2016.
Football relations between Serbia and Albania – at federation degree, if not amongst ultras fan teams – have improved drastically and they are going to be confirmed on Monday as co-organisers of the Under-21 European Championships in 2027.
Associated Press reporting.
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