Germany and France secured convincing wins in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, while Switzerland took a big step toward securing their spot in the global finals by defeating Sweden. North Macedonia maintained their group lead with a tough draw away against Belgium, Ukraine won an exciting match with 8 goals against Iceland, and Northern Ireland showed strength against Slovakia.

In Group 1, Germany continued to revive their qualifying campaign with an easy 4-0 win over Luxembourg, who played most of the match with ten men after defender Dirk Carlson received a red card. Northern Ireland delivered a stunning team performance to beat Slovakia 2-0, keeping their World Cup hopes alive. Germany leads the group with 6 points, ahead of Northern Ireland and Slovakia on goal difference.

In Group 2, Kosovo reinforced their stunning previous win over Sweden with a tough 0-0 draw against Slovenia. Switzerland beat Sweden 2-0, moving a step closer to direct qualification to North America. Coach Murat Yakin’s team now leads with 9 points, 5 points ahead of second-placed Kosovo and 8 points ahead of Sweden in third.

In Group 4, France defeated stubborn Azerbaijan 3-0 at Parc des Princes, moving closer to World Cup qualification. Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring by skillfully bypassing five players before firing into the net, assisted the second goal scored by Adrien Rabiot, and Florian Thauvin scored France’s third goal, his first for the country in six years. Ukraine recorded their first win in the qualifiers by beating Iceland 5-3. Ruslan Malinovskyi scored his first international goal in three years. France tops the group with 9 points, 5 points ahead of Ukraine in second, 6 points ahead of Iceland in third, and Azerbaijan sits last with one point.

In Group 10, North Macedonia secured a tough 0-0 draw in Ghent against Belgium, remaining top with 12 points. Belgium trails by one point in second place and has a postponed match but will be disappointed not to have won. Kazakhstan thrashed Liechtenstein 4-0; Liechtenstein has already been eliminated and remains last with zero points. Coach Talat Baysufinov’s team raised their tally to 6 points.

The European qualifying system consists of 12 groups, each with 4 or 5 teams. Group winners qualify directly for the World Cup. The remaining four European spots will be decided through playoffs involving 16 teams: the 12 group runners-up plus the best four teams from the UEFA Nations League.