England to be drawn in five-team World Cup qualifying group

England will be included in a five-team World Cup qualifying group after gaining promotion from the Nations League on Sunday.

The Three Lions secured promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League with a 5-0 thrashing of 10-man Ireland in interim manager Lee Carsley's final match in charge at Wembley on Sunday.

After a turgid first half, Harry Kane's penalty, Anthony Gordon's volley and Conor Gallagher's tap-in in the space of five minutes early in the second broke Ireland's resolve.

Jarrod Bowen made it 4-0 with a sharp shot from the edge of the box, his first touch after coming off the bench, before debutant Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed England's fifth.

Teams will be divided into twelve World Cup qualifying groups of four or five teams on Friday, December 13 in Zurich.

They will play against each other home and away. Teams drawn in groups of five will begin qualifying in March and teams drawn in groups of four will begin their campaigns in September. All groups end in November 2025.

The winners of the twelve groups qualify for the World Cup, with the twelve second group winners joining the top four Nations League group winners in the play-offs, with four teams advancing to the World Cup.

All eight Nations League quarter-finalists are in Pot 1 of the World Cup draw, which is supplemented by the four countries with the best FIFA world rankings.

The 2026 World Cup starts on June 11, 2026 and will be held in the US, Canada and Mexico.

Ireland played almost the entire second half at Wembley with 10 men after Liam Scales was sent off for a foul on Jude Bellingham that resulted in an England penalty.

England finished top of Group B2 with 15 points from six games, the same as Greece.