How the Nations League can help Italy qualify for 2026 World Cup | OneFootball

Italy will get their 2024-25 Nations League campaign underway in France on Friday evening, and this year’s tournament has an even bigger impact on qualification for the World Cup than it has done in the past. Here is how the Nations League could help the Azzurri qualify.

How Nations League affects Italy’s World Cup qualification

The 2026 World Cup will be the first of a newly-expanded, 48-team edition, increasing from the 32 participating nations in 2022.

The World Cup expansion means that there will be an additional three spots granted to UEFA-affiliated nations. There will now be 16 European nations at the final tournament instead of 13.

The simplest way to guarantee qualification will be to finish at the top of the World Cup qualifying group. The winners of all 12 group winners from UEFA’s qualifying process will directly qualify for the final tournament.

The 12 runners up will progress to an additional qualification play-off round. They will be joined by another four teams based on Nations League rankings.

The four best-ranked teams from the 2024-25 Nations League, who did not finish first or second in their World Cup qualification group, will also progress to the World Cup qualification round.

The 16 teams in the play-off round will compete in a mini-knockout-style tournament, made up of two single-legged matches. The four teams left standing at the end will qualify for the 2026 World Cup.