Nikita Shenderovsky 09:51, 19.11.25 UNIAN
The draw will take place on November 20
The Ukrainian national football team has been drawn into the first pot for the 2026 World Cup qualifying play-off draw.
This happened thanks to a favorable score in the match between Austria and Bosnia – the game ended with a score of 1:1. In addition to Ukraine, the first pot for the draw will also include Italy, Denmark and Turkey.
In total, 12 teams will participate in the playoffs, three of which will advance to the final round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. By qualifying for the first pot, Ukraine will play against teams from the fourth pot. Potential opponents for Rebrov’s team include:
- Sweden;
- Romania;
- North Macedonia;
- Northern Ireland.
All these teams made it to the playoffs thanks to winning the Nations League groups last fall. For Ukraine, the semi-final match of the 2026 World Cup qualification will be nominally a home match. In case of victory, the “blue and yellow” will play against the team from the second or third pot. The host of the final match will be determined by a separate draw.
The semi-final play-off matches will take place on March 26, 2026, and the final matches will be held on March 31, and it is they who will determine the last participants of the 2026 World Cup from Europe.
Ukraine national team: important news
We will remind, in the last round of the group stage of the World Cup qualification, the Ukrainian national team confidently beat the main rival, the Icelandic national team, with a score of 2:0 . Both goals were scored towards the end of the match. Oleksandr Zubkov opened the scoring with a header in the 83rd minute. And the final result was scored by Oleksiy Hutsulyak in the 3rd minute of extra time.
After the game, head coach Serhiy Rebrov praised goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin, who saved the team from conceding a goal several times. He also noted that he “has no complaints” about any of the players in the match.
