As international qualifiers may not attract the same glamor or attention as a big-name league match, they often have just as much to offer for the players and fans involved. These tournaments allow emerging nations to prove they have what it takes to compete with some of the best in the world, while also highlighting the impact that careful preparation and belief can have on a national team’s performance.
As the Premier League pauses for September’s international break, a number of major teams will take to the field for vital World Cup qualifiers. England blew away Serbia in Belgrade, while Northern Ireland were held by Slovakia and Wales played a crucial group game against Canada. There was a welcome return to action for Monaco starlet Takumi Minamino, who will now play against his former club France in Paris on Friday, while Arsenal’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan is set to face Morocco for the first time since the pair were part of the squad that lost out on a place in the last 16 of the 2018 World Cup.
The top three teams from each group will qualify for the 2026 World Cup, with two runners-up entering the inter-confederation play-offs. The first round saw the four lowest-ranked CONCACAF nations battle it out in a two-legged tie, with Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands eliminated after both ties ended in a goalless draw. The top four from this round will enter the second round, which was drawn on Thursday. The thirty-two highest-ranked teams — the two winners from the previous round plus CONCACAF teams ranked 1 to 28 based on their FIFA ranking as of December 2023 — were drawn into six groups of five teams, who will play double round-robin home-and-away matches in March, April and June 2025.