The Macedonian national football team will find out their rivals in the World Cup play-off on November 20, two days after the match against Wales in Cardiff, the last of the qualifiers.
The draw for the final round of the 2026 World Cup qualifying tournaments and the European play-offs will be held at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, on Thursday, November 20, 2025. Two days after the match between Wales and Macedonia in Cardiff, our national team will also find out the rivals with whom it will fight the final battle for World Cup qualification.
Macedonia is still in the battle for second place in the qualifying group for the World Cup, and has another option to be part of the play-offs as one of the winners of the Nations League. The draw is scheduled for Thursday, November 20, starting at 1:00 p.m. in Zurich.
This draw will determine the path that the 22 teams, six through the play-off tournament and 16 through the European play-offs, need to take to secure a place in the first 48-team World Cup, which will be held in Canada, Mexico and the United States from June 11 to July 19, 2026.
28 teams have already secured their places at the World Cup, while a further 14 nations – three from CONCACAF and 11 from UEFA – will qualify through confederation qualifiers this month.
The FIFA play-off tournament will feature two finals, where the winners of the semi-final matches between the unseeded and seeded teams will face off. The winners will secure two places for the 2026 World Cup.
The European play-offs will consist of the 12 group runners-up and the four highest-ranked winners of the UEFA Nations League sections. The 16 teams will be divided into four play-off pots of four teams each.
The matches will be played in semi-finals and finals of one match each to determine the last four European participants in the 2026 World Cup. The next edition of the FIFA rankings will be published on 19 November 2025 to ensure the correct implementation of the draw.
