{"id":13554,"date":"2025-11-12T12:20:40","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T12:20:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/?p=13554"},"modified":"2025-11-12T12:20:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T12:20:41","slug":"road-to-fifa-world-cup-2026-key-qualifier-highlights-as-european-teams-gear-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/?p=13554","title":{"rendered":"Road to FIFA World Cup 2026: Key Qualifier Highlights as European Teams Gear Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

European powerhouses take center stage as World Cup qualification heats up<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The race to the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/strong> is officially in full swing across Europe, with heavyweight nations beginning to assert their dominance \u2014 while several surprise packages threaten to shake up the traditional order. As the qualification campaign enters its midway stage, the battle for automatic spots is tighter than ever, with major nations like Italy<\/strong> and Portugal<\/strong> facing unexpected pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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England march on \u2014 Bellingham and Palmer shine<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

England<\/strong> continued their flawless qualifying run under Gareth Southgate<\/strong>, defeating Greece 3\u20130<\/strong> at Wembley. Jude Bellingham<\/strong> and Cole Palmer<\/strong> orchestrated a commanding display, with goals from Harry Kane<\/strong>, Phil Foden<\/strong>, and Palmer sealing another clean-sheet victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southgate praised his team\u2019s maturity, saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re playing with balance aggression when needed and calmness when it counts. The younger players are stepping up, and that\u2019s what makes this squad special.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

England now sit atop Group A with 15 points from 5 matches, five clear of nearest challengers Switzerland<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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France bounce back after shock draw<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Didier Deschamps\u2019 France<\/strong> responded emphatically after their 1\u20131 draw with Bosnia, thrashing Finland 4\u20130<\/strong> in Paris. Kylian Mbapp\u00e9<\/strong> was the standout once again, scoring twice and providing an assist, while Aur\u00e9lien Tchouam\u00e9ni<\/strong> controlled the midfield with composure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deschamps highlighted France\u2019s depth:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got competition in every position that\u2019s what will carry us to North America in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

France remain joint-top in their group alongside Netherlands<\/strong>, who narrowly beat Norway 2\u20131<\/strong> thanks to a Memphis Depay<\/strong> brace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Germany steadies under Nagelsmann<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

After a turbulent year, Germany<\/strong> appear revitalized under Julian Nagelsmann<\/strong>. A disciplined 2\u20130 away victory over Poland<\/strong> saw goals from Kai Havertz<\/strong> and Florian Wirtz<\/strong>, with the team finally displaying defensive structure and attacking intent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nagelsmann\u2019s tactics \u2014 blending high pressing with flexible buildup have transformed the squad\u2019s energy ahead of their co-hosting duties for the 2026 tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re building confidence and identity again,\u201d said Nagelsmann. \u201cThis team can be among the best in the world by next summer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Italy stumble again as pressure grows on Spalletti<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Italy\u2019s campaign continues to stutter after a 1\u20131 draw with Serbia<\/strong>, with defensive lapses costing them once again. Despite an early Federico Chiesa<\/strong> strike, a late equalizer from Dusan Vlahovi\u0107<\/strong> denied the Azzurri a crucial win. Manager Luciano Spalletti<\/strong> is under growing scrutiny as Italy risk another tense qualification race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Surprise of the week: Scotland and Slovenia impress<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Scotland<\/strong> remain the dark horses of this qualification cycle, following up a 3\u20131 win over Greece with a 2\u20130 victory against Romania<\/strong>, powered by goals from Scott McTominay<\/strong> and John McGinn<\/strong>. Meanwhile, Slovenia<\/strong> stunned Croatia 1\u20130<\/strong>, with teenage striker Benjamin \u0160e\u0161ko<\/strong> netting the decisive goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What\u2019s next?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The next round of UEFA qualifiers continues later this month, with several mouth-watering fixtures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • France vs Netherlands<\/strong> \u2013 a potential group decider<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Italy vs Croatia<\/strong> \u2013 must-win for both sides<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • England vs Switzerland<\/strong> \u2013 top-of-the-table clash at Wembley<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    The road to FIFA World Cup 2026<\/strong> is long, but momentum is starting to build and Europe\u2019s elite are fine-tuning their squads for the biggest stage in global football.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    European powerhouses take center stage as World Cup qualification heats up The race to the 2026 FIFA World Cup is officially in full swing across Europe, with heavyweight nations beginning to assert their dominance \u2014 while several surprise packages threaten to shake up the traditional order. As the qualification campaign enters its midway stage, the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13555,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[144,41,264,139],"tags":[301,56,470,469,471,468,154,472],"class_list":["post-13554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football-news","category-international","category-world-cup-qualifiers","category-world-football","tag-england","tag-european-football","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-france","tag-germany","tag-italy","tag-spain","tag-uefa-qualifiers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13554"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13556,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13554\/revisions\/13556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/90minutesnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}