Key events
The runners and riders for the 2026 World Cup
Thirty places have been filled, 18 remain.
Scotland, then. They went into last night’s game in Greece knowing* they needed at least a draw to stay in contention for automatic qualification. They lose a thrilling gmae 3-2 – but somehow Belarus held Denmark to a 2-2 draw in Copenhagen.
The upshot is that – gulp – if Scotland beat Denmark at Hampden on Tuesday night, they will – GULP! – qualify for their first World Cup finals since 1998.
Preamble
Oh, hi! You’re up early. And why wouldn’t you be on a big day for, among others, the Republic of Ireland and lovers of perfection. Ireland will secure a World Cup qualification playoff place if they beat Hungary in Budapest. And England, who play in Albania, are aiming to complete a perfect qualification campaign: eight games, eight wins, no goals conceded.
Norway and Portugal should also clinch a place in next summer’s finals, while Ukraine face Iceland in what is effectively a playoff to reach the playoffs.
We’ll have build-up to those matches, plus reaction to last night’s action in Group C. Scotland took a break from doing things the hard way and instead did it the weird way: despite a madcap 3-2 defeat in Greece, their hopes of automatic qualifiction remain alive after Belarus drew 2-2 against Denmark in Copenhagen.
Last and emphatically not least, there are five games in the Women’s Super League, including the small matter of Tottenham v Arsenal.
Here’s a full list of today’s games in Uefa World Cup qualification and the WSL.
Group F (2pm)
Group K (5pm)
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Albania v England
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Serbia v Latvia
Group D (5pm)
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Azerbaijan v France
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Ukraine v Iceland
Group I (7.45pm)
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Israel v Moldova
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Italy v Norway
WSL (all midday unless stated)
Post your thoughts BTL or get in touch at matchday.live@theguardian.com
