The first steps on England manager Thomas Tuchel’s mission to win the 2026 Fifa World Cup begin with eight qualifiers within eight months in 2025.
The Three Lions are aiming to qualify for a seventh consecutive edition of the tournament, which will be held in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Ranked fourth in the Fifa rankings before their qualifying campaign began, England’s best run since they failed to reach the finals in 1994 has been a fourth-placed finish in 2018.
Here’s what you need to know about the England football team fixtures, group and qualifiers for the World Cup, including who they’re playing and how they can qualify.
54 nations will compete for 16 spots at #WeAre26…
🥁 UEFA #FIFAWorldCup qualifying is here!
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) March 21, 2025
England World Cup qualifiers: What group are they in?
England are in Group K alongside Albania, Latvia, Andorra and Serbia. Of those opponents, Serbia’s standing of 32 at the start of qualifying made them by far the highest-ranked team Tuchel’s side will face.
Serbia proved tricky opponents at Euro 2024, with only a Jude Bellingham goal separating the teams in their opener in Germany.
Including games as Yugoslavia and Serbia & Montenegro, Dragan Stojkovic’s nation have lost their last five meetings with England, although they held an impressive record of one defeat in their last 21 World Cup qualifying matches before the group began, winning 14 and drawing six.
⏪ Back in November 2021…
🏴5️⃣-0️⃣🇦🇱 pic.twitter.com/JfIJQD39r0
— England (@England) March 21, 2025
Albania are ranked 65th and lost 5-0 at Wembley Stadium when they last met England in November 2021, including a first-half Harry Kane hat-trick.
Albania are one of five nations England have faced more than six times and won against every time, alongside Luxembourg (9), San Marino (8), Malta (7) and Andorra (6).
Latvia are ranked 140th and have never played England before, while Andorra are 171st and have lost all six of the encounters between the countries by an aggregate score of 25-0.
Ben Chilwell, Bukayo Saka, Tammy Abraham, James Ward-Prowse and Jack Grealish scored when England won 5-0 in Andorra in October 21.
Togetherness and creating a bond 🤝 pic.twitter.com/hkQRundhgg
— England (@England) March 21, 2025
England football team World Cup qualifying fixtures
All fixtures start at 19:45 GMT unless otherwise stated.
Friday, March 21: England v Albania
Monday, March 24: England v Latvia
Saturday, June 7: Andorra v England (17:00)
Saturday, September 6: England v Andorra (17:00)
Tuesday, September 9: Serbia v England
Tuesday, October 14: Latvia v England
Thursday, November 13: England v Serbia
Sunday, November 16: Albania v England (17:00)
Sound on for this one. 🤩🔊 pic.twitter.com/ozcnaDn58Q
— England (@England) March 19, 2025
England games: What happens if Three Lions top group?
The top team from each of the 12 European Qualifier groups proceeds automatically to the finals, which will be expanded to 48 teams.
Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Portugal, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, France and Croatia are among the other favourites to win their groups.
What happens if England finish second in World Cup qualifiers?
England will be eliminated if they finish third or below and enter the play-offs between March 26-31 2026 if they come second.
The 12 runners-up in each group will join four Nations League teams in the play-offs, which will be drawn from pots based on teams’ records during the campaign. The games will comprise single-leg semi-finals and finals.
The draw for the World Cup finals will take place in December 2025. The tournament runs from June 11 until July 19 2026.