ZURICH: England will renew acquaintances with Serbia in the European qualifying competition for the 2026 World Cup after the draw was made in Zurich on Friday, with Albania drawn in the same group, setting up a politically charged encounter between the Balkan nations.

However, many teams remain in the dark over their group opponents.

The draw procedure means that eight groups are not yet fully decided, as they will contain eit­h­er the winners or losers of the Nations League quarter-finals, wh­ich take place in March of next year.

Spain take on Netherlands in their Nations League quarter-final, and the winner will join Tur­key, Georgia and Bulgaria in Gro­up ‘E’ while the losing team goes into Group ‘G’ alongside Poland, Finland, Lithuania and Malta.

World Cup 2022 runners-up Fra­­nce are also involved in a Nat­ions League quarter-final, playing Croatia, and if they win that they will go into Group ‘D’ with Ukraine, Iceland and Azerbaijan.

However, should they go out of the Nations League to Croatia in the last eight, they will go into World Cup qualifying Group ‘L’ with the Czech Republic, Monte­negro, Faroe Islands and Gibraltar.

England are one of only four top-seeded countries who know their fate, and under new manager Thomas Tuchel, who takes charge from Jan 1, they will take on Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra in Group ‘K’.

At this year’s European Championship, England beat Serbia 1-0 in their opening group game before going on to reach the final which they lost 2-1 to Spain.

The group contains a possible flashpoint with Serbia and Alba­nia set to face each other twice, after the Balkan feud came to the fore again at Euro 2024.

For political reasons, Ukraine and Belarus could not be drawn in the same group, as with Gibraltar and Spain. Kosovo were kept apart from Serbia and Bosnia, but no such restrictions were placed on Serbia and Albania.

Serbia still does not recognise the mainly ethnic Albanian nation of Kosovo’s independence after one of the bloodiest of the 1990s post-Yugoslavia Balkan wars.

At Serbia’s Euros match against England, Kosovar journalist Arl­i­nd Sadiku made a double-headed eagle gesture — the symbol of Albania’s flag — to Serbian fans during a live broadcast, and had his credentials rescinded by UEFA.

UEFA also imposed punishme­nts after fans of Albania and Croa­tia joined together in chants of “Kill the Serbs” and Serbian supporters chanted “Kosovo is the he­art of Serbia” and displayed a flag with Kosovo inside Serbia’s borders.

A similar flag led to a FIFA fine for Serbia at World Cup 2022, after the players hung the flag in their dressing room for their game with Brazil.

In 2014, a Euro qualifier betw­een Serbia and Albania was abandoned following a brawl between players after a flag, depicting so-called Greater Albania, an area covering all parts of the Balkans where ethnic Albanians live, was flown over the stadium.

Last month Romania were awarded a 3-0 win over Kosovo when the game was abandoned after the Kosovo players left the field when they heard pro-Serbian chanting from the home fans.

There are six groups of five tea­ms who will begin qualifying in Ma­rch, while the six groups of four teams will only start next September.

Scotland, who are bidding to qualify for a first World Cup since 1998, were drawn in Group C in which they will play Greece, Belarus and the loser of the Nations League quarter-final between Portugal and Denmark.

Greece and Scotland are also due to play each other in a play-off next March to decide who is in the top tier of the next edition of the Nations League.

Wales were drawn in the same group as Belgium, as was already the case in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, when both teams made it to the finals in Qatar.

Those sides will also come up against North Macedonia, Kazak­hstan and minnows Liechtenstein in Group J.

The 2026 World Cup will be played in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, kicking off on June 11 with the final on July 19, and will be the first to include 48 teams, expanded from 32.

Europe will have 16 places at the tournament, up from 13 at the last World Cup and the 12 group winners qualify automatically.

The 12 group runners-up go into the playoffs along with the four best-ranked group winners of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League that did not finish in first or second place in the European Qualifiers group stage.

Draw:

Group ‘A’: Winner of Germany v Italy Nations League quarter-final, Slovakia, Northern Ireland, Luxembourg.

Group ‘B’: Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia, Kosovo.

Group ‘C’: Loser of Portugal v Denmark Nations League quarter-final, Greece, Scotland, Belarus.

Group ‘D’: Winner of France v Croatia Nations League quarter-final, Ukraine, Iceland, Azerbaijan.

Group ‘E’: Winner of Spain v Netherlands Nations League quarter-final, Turkey, Georgia, Bulgaria.

Group ‘F’: Winner of Portugal v Denmark Nations League quarter-final, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Armenia.

Group ‘G’: Loser of Spain v Netherlands Nations League quarter-final, Poland, Finland, Lithuania, Malta.

Group ‘H’: Austria, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, San Marino.

Group ‘I’: Loser of Germany v Italy Nations League quarter-final, Norway, Israel, Estonia, Moldova.

Group ‘J’: Belgium, Wales, North Macedonia, Kazakhstan, Liechtenstein.

Group ‘K’: England, Serbia, Albania, Latvia, Andorra.

Group ‘L’: Loser of France v Croatia Nations League quarter-final, Czech Republic, Montenegro, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar.

Published in Dawn, December 14th, 2024