GENEVA (AP) — European soccer now focuses onqualifying for the 2026 World Cupwith 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 straightfailure to qualifyalready 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 athrilling set of Nations League gamesin 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 anepic final against Argentinain 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 werebanned by UEFA and FIFAfrom 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 couldinclude, remarkably, San Marino, 210th and last of themen'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 haveJamal 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 schedulefor 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 withTurkey 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 animpressive quarterfinalistat Euro 2024 yet must face some of Europe's most expensive forwards — Slovenia'sBenjamin Šeško, now at Arsenal, and a Sweden attacking line ofAlexander Isak,Viktor GyökeresandAnthony Elangawho were collectively signed for more than $300 million this season by, respectively, Liverpool, Arsenal and Newcastle. A talented Kosovo squad thatactively recruits from its migrant populationin Switzerland comes to Basel on Friday with the Swiss team captained by its all-time greatGranit 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 wasbitten by Uruguay's Luis Suárezin 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 havenot been allowed to host home gamesin international competitions for security reasons since the October 2023 attack by Hamas. Norway hosts Israel on Oct. 11 in Oslo andpledged last monthto donate its profits from ticket sales at that game to humanitarian aid work in Gaza. ___ AP soccer:https://apnews.com/hub/soccer