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When is the World Cup play-offs draw? Date, time, pots, and how to watch
Radio Times has everything you need to know about the World Cup play-offs draw, including date, time, pots, and how to watch.
Photo by Harold Cunningham - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images
- Ned Holmes
Published: Wednesday, 19 November 2025 at 9:40 am
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The full line-up for Europe's World Cup play-offs has been confirmed.
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Next March, 16 teams will scrap it out for just four spots at the summer tournament in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
10 of the teams that will be in the hat for the draw were already known heading into Tuesday's fixtures and after a dramatic evening of international football, six more have joined them.
Two victories in next year's play-offs will be all that is needed to reach the tournament but with all 16 teams fighting to keep their World Cup dreams alive, nothing will come easy.
RadioTimes.com brings you all the details for the World Cup play-offs draw.
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When is the World Cup play-offs draw?
World Cup. Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/Defodi Images via Getty Images Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/Defodi Images via Getty Images
The draw for the World Cup play-offs will take place on Thursday 20th November.
The draw will be made at approximately 12pm UK time.
You can watch the World Cup play-offs draw on FIFA+ or the BBC Sport website, while there will also be live coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live.
What are the pots for the World Cup play-offs draw?
The 16 teams will be split into four pots. Pots 1-3 will be decided by the FIFA Rankings, while Pot 4 is made up of the four teams that qualified through the Nations League.
One team from each pot will be drawn into one of Path A, Path B, Path C, and Path D. In each of the paths, the teams from Pot 1 will host sides from Pot 4 in the semi-finals and Pot 2 nations will host those from Pot 4.
The winners of the semi-finals in each path will meet in the final, with the winner earning a place at World Cup 2026.
Pot 1: Italy, Denmark, Turkey, and Ukraine.
Pot 2: Poland, Wales, Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
Pot 3: Republic of Ireland, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo.
Pot 4: Romania, Sweden, Northern Ireland and Wales or North Macedonia.
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When are the World Cup play-offs?
The World Cup play-offs semi-finals will be played on Thursday 26th March 2026 at either 5pm or 7:45pm.
The finals will be played on Tuesday 31st March 2026 at either 5pm or 7:45pm.
The potential venues for both the semi-finals and finals will be confirmed by Friday 19th December 2025 at the latest.
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Authors
Ned Holmes
Ned is a sports writer at RadioTimes.com. He has covered a host of sports from EFL football, international cricket and golf all the way through to bike polo and triathlon.
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