The quest to qualify for the World Cup continues this week for Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the play-offs.
On Thursday, Wales host Bosnia and Herzegovina while the Republic of Ireland travel to Czech Republic and Northern Ireland visit Italy in one-legged semi-finals to try and move a step closer to qualifying for this summer's tournament.
Here's how the World Cup play-offs work...
The World Cup play-offs consist of four 'paths', one for each vacant spot at the finals.
The semi-finals will take place on Thursday and the finals on Tuesday March 31, with kick-off times of 5pm or 7.45pm.
The play-offs feature one-legged semi-finals and then a final.
Play-off Path A:
Semi-final: Italy vs Northern Ireland - Thursday, 7.45pm kick-off
Semi-final: Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina - Thursday, 7.45pm
Final: Wales/Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy/Northern Ireland - March 31, 7.45pm kick-off
Play-off Path B:
Semi-final: Ukraine vs Sweden
Semi-final: Poland vs Albania
Final: Ukraine/Sweden vs Poland/Albania
Play-off Path C:
Semi-final: Turkey vs Romania
Semi-final: Slovakia vs Kosovo
Final: Slovakia/Kosovo vs Turkey/Romania
Play-off Path D:
Semi-final: Denmark vs North Macedonia
Semi-final: Czech Republic vs Republic of Ireland - Thursday, 7.45pm
Final: Czech Republic/Republic of Ireland vs Denmark/North Macedonia - March 31, 7.45pm kick-off
Every path includes a team from each of four seeding pots, with Pots 1-3 decided by November's FIFA World Rankings, while Pot 4 consists of the four countries qualifying through their Nations League performance.
The winner of the Pot 1 vs Pot 4 semi-final will then face the winner of the Pot 2 vs Pot 3 from their path semi-final for a place in the USA, Canada and Mexico World Cup.
The pots were:
For the first time, 16 European teams will play at the World Cup owing to the 50 per cent increase in the size of the 2026 tournament. Of those, 12 places are reserved for UEFA qualifying group winners, with the other four coming via the play-offs.
The 12 group runners-up will be joined by four teams who finished outside the top two of their respective qualifying groups, who were the 'best performers' in the 2024/25 Nations League.
Here are the final standings from each of the 12 groups:
No! Wales and Northern Ireland have been drawn in the same play-off path, which means at least one of them will not qualify.
UEFA ranks Nations League teams first by the number of points won by group winners, from the top tier down to the fourth. More often than not, this means the four additional play-off spots are filled by four of the 14 Nations League group winners.
Forty-two teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup so far, with a list below:
