Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland finally learn their World Cup 2026 qualifying opponents

The current international break has been something of a grab-bag of different competitions as UEFA look to keep fans on their toes.

Gone are the days of cycling between World Cup and European Championship qualification campaigns with the odd friendly thrown in, as the UEFA Nations League has created a fixture list and set of permutations that need some sort of advanced qualifcation in quantum computing to understand.

But here at FourFourTwo we’re committed to cracking the code for you, and we’ve been able to work out why Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have just had their World Cup qualifying groups confirmed, days after the likes of England and Wales played their opening fixtures. Buckle up and we’ll explain all…

Scotland, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland finally learn World Cup qualifying opponents

Scotland’s poor 3-0 defeat at home to Greece saw them lose their play-off 3-1 on aggregate, meaning that Steve Clarke’s men have been relegated from Nations League A to Nations League B, which will begin in the autumn of 2026.

But next for the Tartan Army will be the qualification campaign for next summer’s World Cup in North America, with the Scots now knowing their Group C opponents, following the conclusion of the Nations League quarter-finals.

After losing to Portugal in the Nations League last-eight, Denmark now drop into Group C alongside Scotland, Greece and Belarus. The Scots will kick off their qualifying campaign away to Denmark on September 5 and end it by hosting the Danes on November 18.

Northern Ireland now know their final World Cup qualifying opponent, as Germany’s win over Italy in the Nations League play-off means they drop into Group A alongside Michael O’Neill’s side.

That means Northern Ireland kick off their campaign away to Germany on September 7, with Slovakia and Luxembourg also in their group. This comes after O’Neill’s side won their Nations League group this time out, earning them promotion to Group B for the 2026/27 campaign.

Republic of Ireland have also discovered their final Group F opponent, as Portugal’s victory over Denmark meant Cristiano Ronaldo and pals join the Irish, Hungary and Armenia in that four-team group.

European nations will contest 12 World Cup qualifying groups in total, with the likes of England and Wales already having got underway in the current international break, with the rest starting in the autumn.

The winner of each group qualifies automatically for the 2026 World Cup, while second place is enough to secure a play-off spot.

A total of 16 teams will take part in the play-offs, which comprises of the 12 qualifying group stage runners-up, plus four group winners from the 2024/25 Nations League. But we'll worry about all that nearer the time...