European situation: Spain and Switzerland are basically locked in! Denmark and Austria tied in the last round = direct access to the World Cup

On November 16, the World Cup European Qualifiers concluded the penultimate round of Group B, Group C, Group E and Group H. Although no team in these four groups qualified early, Switzerland, Denmark, Spain and Austria have already occupied an absolute advantage in the direct competition for the World Cup.

Group B situation: Switzerland will qualify without losing 6 goals to Kosovo in the last round

In this round, Switzerland swept Sweden 4-1 at home, while Kosovo defeated Slovenia 2-0 away. The two teams accumulated 13 points and 10 points respectively. Kosovo, second in the group, will face Switzerland, the first in the group, at home in the final round.

Since the current goal difference of the Swiss team is as high as +12 and Kosovo's goal difference is only +1, Kosovo needs to beat Switzerland by at least 6 goals in the final round in order to overtake Switzerland and rise to the top of the group and directly advance. Otherwise, Switzerland will go directly to the United States, Canada and Mexico World Cup.

Sweden, which is at the bottom, has already secured a place in the play-offs through the UEFA Nations League, while Slovenia, which is ranked third, has completely missed the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Group C situation: Denmark ties with Scotland in the last round and can qualify for first place

In this round, Scotland was upset and lost to Greece 2-3 in the away game, while Denmark was also upset and was tied 2-2 at home by Belarus. The top two teams in the group accumulated 11 and 10 points respectively after failing to win in this round.

However, Denmark, which holds a points advantage, is still in the driver's seat - as long as they don't lose in the final away game against Scotland, they will be able to advance directly to the US-Canada-Mexico World Cup as the group leader. If Scotland can beat Denmark at home, they will surpass the latter and go straight to the World Cup.

Greece and Belarus have completely missed the 2026 World Cup because they failed to finish first in the group in the UEFA Nations League.

Group E situation: Spain can qualify if it does not lose 7 goals to Turkey in the final round

After defeating Georgia 4-0 in this round, the Spanish team's goal difference has reached +19. Although Türkiye defeated Bulgaria 2-0 in this round, Spain still leads Türkiye by 3 points, but the latter's goal difference is only +5. In the final round of the schedule, the Spanish team will face the Turkish team at home.

This means that in the final round, Turkey needs to beat the Spanish team by at least 7 goals before it can directly advance to the World Cup by overtaking the Spanish team with the same goal difference.

Otherwise, the Spanish team will directly advance to the World Cup, while Turkey will enter the European 16-to-4 play-offs.

Group H qualifying situation: Austria draws with Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last round to qualify first

After defeating Romania 3-1 at home in this round, Bosnia and Herzegovina with 16 points has locked up a play-off spot. They will compete with Austria, the group leader with 18 points, in the final round for a spot to directly advance to the US-Canada-Mexico World Cup.

In the last round, the two teams happened to have a direct dialogue at Austria's home court.

Since Austria has a points advantage, as long as they do not lose to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last round. If Bosnia and Herzegovina wins away from home, it will advance to the World Cup and Austria will fall to the play-offs.

Romania, which has already confirmed the third position in the group, won the first place in the group in the last UEFA Nations League. They can still get a place in the play-offs through the UEFA Nations League.