Türkiye will face Romania in the semifinals of the European playoffs for the 2026 World Cup, as they seek to end more than a two-decade-long wait to play on football's biggest stage.
That's according to a draw by FIFA made in Zurich on Thursday that also paired four-time World Cup winners Italy with Northern Ireland.
Türkiye will first host Romania in a single-elimination game on March 26, with the winner having to travel to face Slovakia or Kosovo on March 31.
The playoffs include 16 European teams, the 12 who finished second in their qualifying groups, plus the four best Nations League group winners who had not already qualified.
The four teams that win the playoff finals will advance to the first 48-team World Cup, co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico next June and July.
Türkiye finished second to Spain in their qualification group, and Vincenzo Montella hopes clubs will give him more time to prepare in March.
The Crescent-Stars are aiming to reach the World Cup for the first time since 2002, when they shocked the world with a third-place finish.
Romania are seeking their first qualification since 1998. They were surprise quarterfinalists the last time the tournament was played in the United States in 1994.
Kosovo are attempting to qualify for the first time since they became a FIFA member. Slovakia last played at the 2010 World Cup.
Among three other European playoff brackets, Italy will face Northern Ireland after they again failed to secure direct qualification after finishing second in their group.
If Italy get through that match, they will travel to the winner of Wales's semifinal against Bosnia-Herzegovina.
If they qualify, that will be the Azzurri's first World Cup since the 2014 tournament in Brazil. They were stopped by Sweden from getting to the 2018 World Cup. It was North Macedonia in 2022.
The Northern Irish shape as a similar test to North Macedonia, which resisted waves of attacks in Palermo in March 2022 before stunning Italy with a single goal in stoppage time.
"There will be immense pressure on Italy, they have obviously missed the last two World Cups," Northern Ireland coach Michael O'Neill told The Associated Press (AP). "We have everything to gain in this situation."
Northern Ireland have not qualified for the World Cup since 1986 and have beaten Italy just once in 11 meetings back in 1958.
Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso, whose team was beaten 4-1 by group winner Norway in Milan on Sunday, said: "Let's concentrate on the first match. Northern Ireland are a team that we can beat."
"They're a team that have their own style, they're very physical... they'll give us a good game but we can do it," he noted.
"We know about Wales and Bosnia, and playing in Cardiff is difficult for anybody, but for now let's concentrate on the semifinal."
War-torn Ukraine will play a Sweden team that could feature Liverpool forward Alexander Isak and Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres.
The Swedes, though, were woeful in qualifying, finishing bottom of their group, won by Switzerland, and only found a route into the playoffs thanks to their performance in the Nations League.
The Swedes reached the World Cup quarterfinals in 2018 but did not qualify for the 2022 edition. Newly appointed English coach Graham Potter, formerly in charge of Brighton and Chelsea, faces a tough task to steer his side to next year's finals.
"We are playing a proud, strong football nation," Potter said of Ukraine. "Everyone wants to play for their nation. Emotion will be a part of the game that we have to manage, and manage well."
Whoever triumphs will face the winner of Poland's meeting with Albania, who are bidding to reach football's showpiece for the first time.
Ukraine played their qualifying group home games in three different Polish cities while the country is under military invasion by Russia, and could end up hosting Poland in Poland.
In 2022, Ukraine won a playoff semifinal in Scotland that was postponed for more than two months because of the war, then lost the decisive qualifying game in Wales.
Ireland's reward for remarkable back-to-back wins over Portugal and Hungary – with all five goals scored by Troy Parrott – is a playoff semifinal at the Czech Republic, with the winner then hosting Denmark or North Macedonia.
Denmark dropped into the playoffs after losing 4-2 to Scotland's stunning stoppage-time rally on Tuesday that even topped Ireland's late drama in Budapest.
"I saw the reaction from Scotland after the win," Ireland coach Heimir Hallgrímsson told the AP. "This is what this beautiful game gives us. Long may that continue and we can keep the momentum."
FIFA also made the draw for the six-nation intercontinental playoffs that do not involve Europe.
Iraq, which were seeded in the draw, will have to beat Bolivia or Suriname in a one-game playoff next March to qualify for the finals tournament.
Congo were seeded in the other intercontinental playoffs bracket and will play the winners of a single-game semifinal between New Caledonia and Jamaica.
The six intercontinental playoff games will be staged in Mexico from March 23-31 at stadiums in Guadalajara and Monterrey, which each will host four World Cup games.
A penalty scored by Iraq in the 17th minute of stoppage time against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday sent coach Graham Arnold's team through to the global playoffs. Iraq's 2-1 win in Basra sealed a 3-2 victory in the two-leg Asian playoff.
"It was crazy scenes, and it was incredible results, and now we're here," Arnold said.
Iraq's only World Cup appearance was in 1986, and Arnold coached his home nation, Australia, at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, reaching the round of 16.
New Caledonia are the lowest-ranked team in the playoffs, at No. 149 of the 211 FIFA member countries.
New Caledonia effectively advanced to the playoffs by beating Tahiti 3-0 in March, before losing the Oceania qualifying final against New Zealand. Coach Johann Sidaner's team have played just one game since, beating Gibraltar in a friendly last month.
A total of six teams will advance from the two sets of playoffs in March to complete the first 48-nation lineup.
The other 42 teams were confirmed this week when qualifying groups and playoff games were completed on four continents.
The World Cup draw is on Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. There, the six unconfirmed playoff teams will be drawn as placeholders and should come out of the pot of lowest-ranked teams in the seeded draw.
