England may have to beat Euro 2024 winners Spain to secure automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup.
UEFA’s qualification draw will take place in December.
The expanded tournament will see 16 spots from Europe, with 48 teams competing across the United States, Canada and Mexico.
However, the placements in the 12 European Qualifier groups will be determined by the rankings in the next Nations League, which begins in September.
After England’s fourth-place finish in the last tournament in 2022, the team has been relegated to League B, where they will face the Republic of Ireland, Greece and Finland.
That means they won’t be the top seed, which would be the 12 best-performing teams in Division A.
That means England could face Spain, Germany, France or Portugal in a smaller qualifying group of four or five teams, with only the winner qualifying.
The 12 second-placed teams in their groups will join the top four Nations League teams that did not finish first or second in their groups in a play-off to determine the four final qualifying teams in March 2026.
If England win their Nations League group stage as expected, they will be drawn into a five-team group and begin their journey to the United States in March.
Spain’s victory, and Argentina’s upset victory over Colombia in the Copa America final in Miami, has raised the prospect of a showdown between teenage threats Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi.
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Photos of Messi with newborn baby Yamal were released last week.
The former Barcelona superstar added his South American crown to his 2022 World Cup winners’ medal in a match that was postponed for more than an hour due to crowd trouble.
Messi’s match ended early due to injury but he was on the sidelines as Lautaro Martinez scored the winning goal in extra time.
When FIFA’s latest world rankings are released on Thursday, Argentina and Spain will be ranked first and third respectively.
England overtakes Brazil and Belgium to move into fourth place, with France in second place.