What TV channel is Scotland's World Cup qualifying draw on? Live stream, pots and dream/nightmare scenarios

The 2026 World Cup will take place across three countries - the USA, Canada and Mexico - and fresh from qualifying for last summer’s European Championships, Scotland hope to make successive finals under manager Steve Clarke.

Scotland have not played at the World Cup since France 1998, when they drew with Norway and lost to Brazil and Morocco, exiting at the group phase.

The Scots ended 2024 on a positive note by beating Poland and finishing third in their Nations League A Group. They have a relegation play-off against Greece in March to navigate before they turn their attentions to World Cup qualifying.

Here are all the details ahead of the World Cup qualifying draw:

When is the World Cup qualifying draw?

The draw for UEFA nations takes place on Friday, December 13 in Zurich, Switzerland. The draw is due to begin at 11am GMT.

What TV channel is the World Cup qualifying draw on?

The draw will not be broadcast live on TV.

Is there a World Cup qualifying live stream?

The draw will be streamed live on fifa.com.

How does qualifying work?

The 54 eligible UEFA nations will be split into six groups of four teams, and six groups of five teams. Russia remain suspended.

Sixteen European countries in total will qualify for the first 48-team finals in 2026 – the 12 qualifying group winners automatically, and then four further teams via play-offs to be played in March 2026.

Sixteen countries will go into those play-offs – the 12 qualifying group runners-up plus the four best-ranked group winners from the Nations League who did not either win their group or finish runner-up in main qualifying.

These 16 teams will be drawn into four-team ‘paths’ with the winner of each securing a ticket to the tournament.

What are the pots?

Pot one: France, Spain, England, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Switzerland, Denmark, Austria.

Pot two: Ukraine, Sweden, Türkiye, Wales, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Czechia, Norway.

Pot three: Scotland, Slovenia, Republic of Ireland, Albania, North Macedonia, Georgia, Finland, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel.

Pot four: Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Belarus, Kosovo, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Cyprus, Faroe Islands, Latvia, Lithuania.

Pot five: Moldova, Malta, Andorra, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, San Marino.

How will the draw unfold?

The qualification draw is complicated by the final stages of the Nations League. The four teams in Pot One who reach June’s Nations League finals will each need to be in a four-team World Cup qualifying group, because they cannot start playing regular qualifiers until September. Therefore, the eight nations contesting the quarter-finals in March - Italy, Germany, Denmark, Portugal, Netherlands, Spain, Croatia and France - will be named in the draw as, for example, winner of Spain-Netherlands or loser of Spain-Netherlands, with the winner only able to go into a group of four.

Teams involved in the two-leg Nations League promotion and relegation play-offs will also be unable to play World Cup qualifiers in March, but could still be drawn in a five-team group and play their eight qualifiers in the June, September, October and November international breaks.

When are the World Cup qualifiers played?

The qualifiers are scheduled across five international windows: March 17-25, June 2-10, September 1-9, October 6-14 and November 10-19.

As mentioned above, Scotland are in the Nations League play-offs, which means they could end up in five-team groups but will not be able to play their first World Cup qualifiers until June as they are already active in March

Fixtures announcement

UEFA hope to have the calendar ready for publication on Friday evening.

Dream draw: Austria, Wales, Scotland Latvia, Andorra.

Nightmare draw: Germany, Sweden, Scotland, Bulgaria, Moldova.