England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland’s World Cup 2026 odds after qualifier draw revealed
Imago
The home nations have learned their 2026 World Cup qualifying opponents after today's draw in Zurich and we're looking at what that means for their chances of winning the whole thing with odds from BetMGM.
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will be hoping to be among the 16 European teams to qualify for the World Cup in US, Canada and Mexico. To do that, they'll need to finish top of their qualifying group or win their second-place play-off.
Check out the best UK bookmakers to claim free bets worth up to £850!
England - 13/2 to win outright at BetMGM
England will play Serbia, Albania, Latvia and Andorra in Group K.
The 1966 winners have been handed a favourable group, with none of their opponents in the top 30 of the FIFA rankings.
The Football Association have definitely shown their hand, with the appointment of new head coach Thomas Tuchel, that they believe this is the time to finally get over the line.
There's little doubt the Three Lions will reach the finals, having qualified for every World Cup since 1994. But it wouldn't be a huge shock if they went on to win it. England are joint-third favourites with Brazil (13/2), behind joint-favourites France and Spain (6/1).
England are even ahead of reigning world champions Argentina (10/1) in the market.
But Tuchel, who takes charge on 1 January, is under no illusions about the task at hand, telling BBC Radio 5 Live: "Qualification is key.
"We have to be serious and determined and show what we're up for. The gap closes more and more between the big and small nations. We have to earn our top spot."
Wales - 300/1 to win outright at BetMGM
Wales will face Belgium, plus North Macedonia, Kazakhstan and Liechtenstein.
Belgium will be the overwhelming favourites to top Group J but Wales will have fond memories of their last meeting with them. The Dragons snatched a crucial point from the Red Devils in their last World Cup qualifiers before winning the play-offs to reach the finals in Qatar.
And manager Craig Bellamy is looking forward to the challenge of finishing top this time around.
"I lived in Brussels so that's nice," the former Anderlecht coach said. "Belgium are a team I know very well.
"I'm happy. It's a good group. We're going to have to do our homework very well and try to attack it and finish top of the group."
Scotland - 400/1 to win outright at BetMGM
Scotland will go up against Greece, Belarus and the loser of the Portugal vs Denmark Nations League quarter-final.
The Tartan Army face a few unknowns ahead of their Group C campaign. They don't find out if they face Portugal or Denmark until March, and won't know where they'll play Belarus due to the conflict in Ukraine.
But Scotland coach Steve Clarke is keen to put all that to one side as he looks to lead his nation to a first World Cup tournament since 1998.
"First off, it's to find out where the game will be played," Clarke said.
"The most important thing is to concentrate on the team, the players, the way they're going to play and make sure that wherever we play them and - put all the political stuff aside, for me - it's just to concentrate that we get the points that we require from that game."
Northern Ireland - 1000/1 to win outright at BetMGM
Northern Ireland will meet Slovakia, Luxembourg and the winner of the Germany vs Italy Nations League game.
The Green and White Army will fancy their chances against a Luxembourg side they've played twice already this year, defeating them 2-0 in Belfast and drawing 2-2 away as they topped their UEFA Nations League group.
Despite the prospect of facing one of Germany or Italy in Group A, manager Michael O'Neill admitted he's pleased with how the draw played out and hopes to take advantage of the lack of pressure on his men.
He told BBC Sport: "We don't have anything to lose in that type of situation, playing one of the powerhouses of football.
"The way the group has come out, we'd have taken that before the draw."
Odds correct at the time of writing.