World Cup play-off draw: Start time and where to watch

The European 2026 World Cup play-off draw takes place in Zurich today, Thursday, November 20, at 13:00 CET (12:30 GMT): here’s how to follow it live.

Italy will learn their World Cup play-off opponents during today’s draw at  FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

The Azzurri are in pot one, which means they’ll play the one-legged semifinal at home. Their next opponents come from pot 4 with Sweden, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland or Romania being one of their next rivals.

The winner will meet one of the teams emerging victorious from clashes between teams in pots 2 and 3, and the venue for the final will also be determined in today’s draw.

Football Italia will follow today’s 2026 World Cup play-off with a liveblog and full coverage before and after the event. FIFA+ will stream the play-off draw live.

Italy finished as runners-up in Group I with 16 points, six below the winners, Norway. The Azzurri lost twice against Erling Haaland’s side, conceding seven times and scoring just once across the two meetings.