The World Cup play-offs start on Thursday with four European spaces up for grabs for this summer's tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico. Wales host Bosnia-Herzegovina in one of eight semi-finals, while Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland play in Italy and the Czech Republic respectively. The play-offs are comprised of 16 teams - the 12 teams who finished second in their World Cup qualifying groups and the four best-ranked Nations League group winners who missed out via qualifying. There are four play-off paths, each containing four teams, with one-legged semi-finals and finals.

Source: BBC March 26, 2026 19:41 UTC