World Cup 2026 Play-offs: Everything you need to know about this week's matches

What are the UEFA World Cup Play-offs?

The UEFA World Cup Play-offs - also known as UEFA second round - are a sequence of knock-out games featuring 16 European nations that will determine the final four European teams to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.

A total of 16 European teams will compete at this year's World Cup which commences on Thursday 11 June, with the 12 group winners from the UEFA qualifying segment - Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland - already qualified for the tournament, leaving four more places to be filled.

When are the Play-offs and what is the format?

The play-offs commence on Thursday 26 March with eight knock-out games all kicking off at 19:45 GMT.

The eight winners will advance to the play-offs finals night on Tuesday 31 March with all four games kicking off at 19:45 GMT. The four winners will qualify for the 2026 World Cup tournament.

Sixteen nations qualified for the UEFA World Cup Play-offs - the 12 group runners-up from UEFA qualifying and four from Nations League finishing positions - and they were seeded based on their FIFA Men's World Ranking.

The eight highest seeds were given home advantage for the semi-finals and the four highest seeds given home advantage for the final should they advance. If any of the four highest seeds fails to qualify for the final then home advantage will be given to the nation that beats them.

Example:

Wales are among the top four highest seeds which means that they will have home advantage in their play-off semi final against Bosnia, and should they win that game then they will also have home advantage in the play-off final. However, should Wales lose their semi-final then it will be Bosnia who have home advantage in the play-off final.

Who are the 16 nations competing?

The 16 nations competing in the UEFA World Cup Play-offs are shown below in the Paths that they were drawn in, along with their semi-final opponent and their odds to win their Path.

Key:

(a) will have home advantage in semi-final and final should they advance

(b) will have home advantage in semi-final but will play away from home in final should they advance

(c) will play away from home in semi-final but will have home advantage in final should they advance

(d) will play away from home in both semi-final and final should they advance

Path A - Wales, Italy, Bosnia, Northern Ireland

Path B - Ukraine, Poland, Sweden, Albania

Path C - Slovakia, Turkey, Kosovo, Romania

Path D - Czech Republic, Denmark, Rep of Ireland, N.Macedonia

Summary of Fixtures

Semi-Finals: Thursday 26 March (all 19:45 GMT)

- Click here for Wales v Bosnia odds

- Click here for Italy v Northern Ireland odds

- Click here for Ukraine v Sweden odds

- Click here for Poland v Albania odds

- Click here for Slovakia v Kosovo odds

- Click here for Turkey v Romania odds

- Click here for Czech Republic v Rep of Ireland odds

- Click here for Denmark v N.Macedoina odds

Finals: Tuesday 31 March (all 19:45 GMT)

- Wales or Bosnia v Italy or Northern Ireland

- Ukraine or Sweden v Poland or Albania

- Slovakia or Kosovo v Turkey or Romania

- Czech Republic or Rep of Ireland v Denmark or N.Macedonia

Name The Finalists

How about getting ahead of yourself and having a bet now in the very popular World Cup Winner market or even Name The Finalists.

We know the World Cup groups so you can use yoyr skill and knowledge to predict where each team will finish in that group, which then tells you which side of the draw each nation is on, which ultimatley then allows you to name who will reach the final.

You can get some great prices in Betfair's Name The Finalists market so head there now and place your bets.

Read our World Cup Tips on Betting.Betfair including: 

• Opta Stats and Best Bets for the Qualifiers and Friendlies
• Lewis Jones' analysis of who will make England's World Cup Squad 
• Paul Higham's World Cup Qualifiers Tipsheet
• Wales v Bosnia: Three Stats and Three Bets
• Italy v Northern Ireland- Jack Critchley's Match Preview
• Kevin Hatchard's Czechia v Republic of Ireland Match Preview