+ How do the World Cup playoffs work?
In the European World Cup play-off, 16 participating teams are drawn into four tracks where semi-finals and finals will be played. This concerns twelve qualifying runners-up and four national teams that failed in qualifying, but will get a chance in the play-off thanks to their group victory in the Nations League (NL) in the autumn of 2024.
Both matches will be decided in singles. The semi-finals will be played on March 26 – the final on March 31. The four final winners will qualify for the World Cup next summer.
+ How is it drawn?
Which team Sweden – who tonight ends the World Cup qualifiers at home against Slovenia – will face in the semi-finals will be drawn on Thursday. Blue and yellow are found in the fourth and worst seeding group – the opposition is drawn from pot 1, which consists of the four qualifying runners-up with the best world rankings.
The highest seeded team plays the semi-final at home. The semi-final winner who gets to play at home in the final is drawn in advance.
+ What resistance could there be?
An updated world ranking will be presented on Wednesday, but world number nine Italy is in pot 1. If Denmark (ranked 20th) loses away to Scotland tonight, the Danes could be a challenge for Sweden. Austria (24th) loses its direct place if it loses to Bosnia-Herzegovina (75th) and would in such a situation take a place in the best seeding pot. The trio of Spain (1st), Belgium (8th) and Switzerland (17th) have good starting positions to take a direct place tonight.
Of the clear runners-up, Ukraine (27) and Poland (33) have the best world rankings.
+ The draw for the World Cup finals
The twelve groups for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico will be drawn on December 5 in Washington DC. 42 of the 48 participating countries will then be ready, but it will be clear at the draw which World Cup group Sweden will end up in if there is a successful playoff. In addition to the playoff in Europe, there will also be an intercontinental playoff in March for two World Cup places.
+ Disadvantage of reaching the World Cup via playoff
There is a disadvantage to getting to the championship via the playoff. This is because these six teams are automatically placed in the fourth and worst seeding group along with the six lowest-ranked World Cup teams. The top nine in the world rankings and the three host nations will be the top seeds. It is already clear that Mexico will be placed in Group A, Canada in Group B and the USA in Group D.
