GENEVA (AP) — European soccer now focuses on qualifying for the 2026 World Cup with recent champions France, Germany and Spain among the nations starting a six-game, 11-week sprint to advance to the tournament being played across North America.

The European qualifying program returns Thursday with six days of games involving 54 teams — 24 of them kicking a first ball on their intended road to play on soccer’s biggest stage in the United States, Canada and Mexico starting June 11.

Italy began its campaign — shakily — in June and resumes its quest to avoid a third straight failure to qualify already trailing nine points behind group leader Norway.

England opened in March and looks to add to three straight wins with no goals conceded for coach Thomas Tuchel.

Among those starting their qualifying program are top-tier teams who played a thrilling set of Nations League games in March and June.

Spain, the 2010 World Cup winner, begins at Bulgaria on Thursday when 2014 champion Germany starts at Slovakia.

France, the 2018 title winner, starts Friday away against Ukraine in Les Bleus’ first game in the competition since losing an epic final against Argentina in December 2022.

Ukraine will host that game in Wroclaw in neutral Poland because of security concerns at home during the Russian military invasion. Russia’s teams were banned by UEFA and FIFA from all international competitions in February 2022 when the war began.

How to qualify

Europe has 16 entries in the first 48-team men’s World Cup, three more than in the 32-team format played in 2022.

The 12 first-place teams when qualifying groups end in November advance direct to the tournament.

The 12 runners-up go to the playoffs scheduled in March, joined by four winners of Nations League groups played last year. Those extra teams could include, remarkably, San Marino, 210th and last of the men’s national teams ranked by FIFA.

The 16 European playoffs teams will be seeded into four knockout brackets of four teams each. They play single-game semifinals and finals on March 26 and 31, to decide the four remaining World Cup slots.

Smallest groups since 1989

The extra World Cup entries given by FIFA, and Nations League knockout stage expanded by UEFA, have changed the qualifying formula.

Europe now has its first World Cup qualifying groups of just four teams since those that finished in November 1989, just days after the Berlin Wall fell and reshaped the continent.

High-ranking nations that once had to play in groups of five or six teams across 15 months now have a condensed program playing two games in each of three straight months. An injury could remove a key player for the entire qualifying program. Germany will not have Jamal Musiala, who sustained a serious leg injury playing for Bayern Munich at the Club World Cup in July.

The format changes again next year. After the 2026 World Cup, the FIFA schedule for men’s national-team games will combine the separate September and October breaks into a four-game block over back-to-back weekends.

Toughest groups

European champion Spain's reward for beating the Netherlands in a Nations League quarterfinal in March was to land in a four-team group with Turkey and Georgia, two breakout successes at Euro 2024.

Georgia, with star winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, was the most dangerous team among third-seeded options in the draw last December. Georgia hosts Turkey on Thursday and plays at Spain on Oct. 11.

Maybe the hardest to predict is the four-team group of Switzerland, Sweden, Slovenia and Kosovo.

Switzerland was an impressive quarterfinalist at Euro 2024 yet must face some of Europe's most expensive forwards — Slovenia's Benjamin Šeško, now at Arsenal, and a Sweden attacking line of Alexander Isak, Viktor Gyökeres and Anthony Elanga who were collectively signed for more than $300 million this season by, respectively, Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle.

A talented Kosovo squad that actively recruits from its migrant population in Switzerland comes to Basel on Friday with the Swiss team captained by its all-time great Granit Xhaka, who has family ties to Kosovo.

Norway leads Italy and Israel

One group sure to make news is currently led by Norway ahead of Israel and Italy.

Norway has not qualified for a men’s World Cup since before 25-year-old Erling Haaland was born. The team is on track after the star forward scored in each of four straight wins since starting in March.

Norway has no fixture Friday in the five-team group and hosts last-place Moldova next Tuesday.

Italy, infamously, has not played a World Cup tournament game since June 2014. Then, Giorgio Chiellini was bitten by Uruguay’s Luis Suárez in a 1-0 loss that sent the four-time champion home from the group stage in Brazil.

Italy hosts Estonia on Friday, three days before going to face Israel in neutral Hungary, at Debrecen.

Israeli teams have not been allowed to host home games in international competitions for security reasons since the October 2023 attack by Hamas.

Norway hosts Israel on Oct. 11 in Oslo and pledged last month to donate its profits from ticket sales at that game to humanitarian aid work in Gaza.

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer