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World Cup qualifying: Wales’ permutations for 2026 tournament


With a full round of matches to play, the identity of potential play-off opponents is still up in the air.

Apart from the Nations League group winners who are automatically in pot four of the play-offs, the remaining pots are decided by the Fifa rankings and confirmed after this week’s final fixtures.

Sweden, Northern Ireland and Romania are all certain to be in pot four, with either Wales or North Macedonia joining them.

They will face a top seed away from home – and as it stands, it looks likely that could be Italy, Turkey, Ukraine or Poland. Denmark would be a top-seeded team if Scotland beat them to automatic qualification from Group C.

If Wales fail to beat North Macedonia, it would require a win away at one of those nations to progress to a play-off final and keep their World Cup hopes alive.


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