Wales learn opponents for 2026 World Cup qualifiers

Wales will face familiar foes Belgium in their bid to qualify for the 2025 World Cup.

The draw for the tournament took place in Zurich on Friday, 13 December, with Craig Bellamy’s side among the second seeds.

Joining Wales and Belgium in Group J are North Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein.

Belgium are familiar opponents for Wales, who met the Belgians in qualifying for the last World Cup, where they earned a crucial draw in the final match of the campaign to clinch the runners-up spot before going on to qualify for Qatar via the play-offs. Wales faced them recently in the 2022 Nations League.

They famously beat Belgium 3-1 to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2016 under Chris Coleman, but have not won any of the subsequent four meetings.

Manager Craig Bellamy will be upbeat about the draw, particularly after avoiding England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. While those games would have been mouthwatering prospects, they would have been more unpredictable and difficult to manage.

The lower-seeded teams in Group J will present logistical challenges and be tricky away trips but a team with serious ambitions of being at the global gathering should be targeting wins in those matches.

It would be too simple, and disrespectful, to call this campaign a straight shootout with Belgium for the automatic qualifying spot, but they will undoubtedly be the biggest games of the campaign.

The familiarity with the opponent will help Wales, and Domenico Tedesco’s side endured a torrid Nations League campaign. They have lost four out of their last five matches, including a defeat to Israel.

Wales’ World Cup qualifying campaign will kick off in March 2025 and will conclude next November.

Four-team groups kick off their qualifying campaigns in September 2025.

Sixteen European nations will qualify for the finals, which will feature 48 teams for the first time.

The winners of each group qualify automatically, with the runners-up then going into play-offs in March 2026 alongside the four best-ranked Nations League group winners who did not either win their World Cup qualifying group or finish runner-up.

Those play-offs will determine the final four qualifiers from Europe.

Draw for the European section of qualifying for the 2026 men’s World Cup:

Group A: Winner of Germany v Italy, Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg.

Group B: Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia, Kosovo.

Group C: Loser of Portugal v Denmark, Greece, Scotland, Belarus.

Group D: Winner of France v Croatia, Ukraine, Iceland, Azerbaijan.

Group E: Winner of Spain v Netherlands, Turkey, Georgia, Bulgaria.

Group F: Winner of Portugal v Denmark, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Armenia.

Group G: Loser of Spain v Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Malta.

Group H: Austria, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, San Marino.

Group I: Loser of Germany v Italy, Norway, Israel, Estonia, Moldova.

Group J: Belgium, Wales, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein.

Group K: England, Serbia, Albania, Latvia, Andorra.

Group L: Loser of France v Croatia, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar.