World Cup playoffs: How they work, UEFA & intercontinental teams

JUMP TO:

• What are the World Cup playoffs?
• How do the playoffs work?
• When are the playoffs?
• Where are the games staged?
• Which teams have qualified for the playoffs?

With nations globally aspiring to be among the 48 countries competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the last remaining slots in the competition are being secured.

As the World Cup draw approaches in early December, just six spots will remain to be filled.

The UEFA and intercontinental playoffs will fill those slots, occurring a mere three months prior to the World Cup's start in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

AllSportsPeople provides comprehensive information on the playoffs, covering participant details, qualification criteria, and the competition's structure.

MORE: How the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw will work

The World Cup playoffs are a series of matches played to determine qualification for the tournament.

The World Cup playoffs are a pair of mini-tournaments providing a secondary path to the finals for teams that didn't secure automatic qualification.

Two distinct World Cup playoff tournaments exist: one exclusively for European (UEFA) national teams, and a second that includes countries from various confederations, known as the intercontinental playoffs.

With UEFA securing 16 berths in the expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup, they'll conduct their own playoff to fill the final spot. The remaining confederations will compete in an inter-confederation playoff to decide the last two qualifiers.

UEFA playoffs

For the 2026 UEFA World Cup qualifiers, 54 nations competed for one of Europe's 16 available spots in the tournament.

Those 54 nations were spread out between 12 groups. While the group winner advanced to the World Cup automatically, the runners-up were placed in a knockout bracket along with a few UEFA Nations League qualifiers to determine four more participants.

FIFA intercontinental play

The intercontinental playoffs, also referred to as the inter-confederation playoffs or the World Cup playoff tournament, represent the ultimate route for nations aiming to secure a spot in the World Cup.

Established in 1998 as a singular contest between qualifiers from Asia and Oceania, it has progressively evolved into the current six-nation competition. The 2026 iteration will feature one country each from the AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL, and OFC confederations, alongside two from CONCACAF.

With each quadrennial World Cup qualification format evolution, the intercontinental playoffs undergo minor adjustments to align with the latter stages of the qualification process.

How do the playoffs work?

The UEFA and intercontinental editions have different entry methods, and the European version has a larger field, but each is essentially the same format: a single-elimination tournament in which teams will compete to reach a final, the winners of which will qualify for the World Cup.

2026 UEFA playoffs format

The runners-up from each of the 16 UEFA qualifying groups will proceed to the playoffs, joined by the four top-performing group winners from the most recent UEFA Nations League who did not secure automatic World Cup qualification.

Teams will be divided into four groups, with each group containing four teams, competing in a four-team mini-tournament to decide the ultimate qualifiers.

The semifinals will consist of two matches, and the final will be a single game. A random draw will determine the host for each path's final. Semifinal matches for seeded teams will take place at their home grounds.

Pathway 1

Semifinal

Final

Pathway 2

Semifinal

Final

Pathway 3

Semifinal

Final

Pathway 4

Semifinal

Final

the 2026 intercontinental playoffs will follow a specific format.

Two three-team brackets will be formed from the six participants, and each bracket will yield one qualifier.

The draw, scheduled for November 20 at FIFA's Zurich, Switzerland headquarters, will determine the brackets.

The seeding of teams will be determined by their FIFA ranking; the top two seeded teams will receive a direct entry into the final of their respective brackets, while the remaining four teams will compete in the semifinals.

Pathway 1

Semifinal

Final

Pathway 2

Semifinal

Final

Which squads are competing in the World Cup playoffs?

The 2026 FIFA intercontinental playoff will feature six teams, determining the last two World Cup qualifiers. Meanwhile, the UEFA tournament will see 16 nations vying for an additional two places in the main event.

Teams in UEFA playoffs

The 12 group runners-up in the UEFA playoffs are accompanied by four teams that qualified from the UEFA Nations League.

The top-ranked group victors who haven't yet secured qualification are up next, spanning from League A down to League D. Should there be fewer than four such teams still needing to qualify, attention will turn to the highest-ranked group runners-up from The Nations League.

Teams competing in intercontinental playoffs

Each confederation will produce one participant, while CONCACAF will have two. The below table details how they qualified for this phase.

World Cup playoff dates?

Both the UEFA and intercontinental playoffs will be contested in the March FIFA international window.

The period will run from March 23 until March 31, 2026. Exact match dates will be confirmed following the draw scheduled for November 20.

Once these events conclude, the full roster of 48 nations competing in the 2026 World Cup will be finalized.

The World Cup playoffs are held where?

During the UEFA playoffs, top-seeded squads host their semifinal matches. A pre-game draw decides which of the qualifying teams will have home-field advantage in the finals.

This is different to how the inter-confederation playoffs are staged.

Traditionally, the FIFA intercontinental playoffs are hosted by the same host nation that the coming World Cup will be contested in.

With the 2026 World Cup set to be played across three countries (USA, Canada, and Mexico), it has not yet been confirmed by FIFA where exactly the intercontinental playoffs will be held, and whether it will be spread across all three host nations, or if it will be limited to exclusively one.

However, there is some reporting on the subject. In August of 2025, the governor of Mexican province Nuevo Leon, Samuel Garcia, stated that Estadio BBVA will host the tournament.

The venue, located in Guadaloupe, is the home stadium of Mexican club Monterrey. It will also host four World Cup matches, including three in the group stage and one in the Round of 32.

World Cup playoff results past

UEFA playoffs

Since 2010, UEFA has employed a playoff system, a change that occurred after their removal from intercontinental playoff contention and the establishment of their distinct system.

During the initial phase of the UEFA playoff, eight teams advanced and were randomly assigned to four two-game series, with the winners moving on. This structure persisted until the 2022 season, at which point it was modified to the present system.

The 2026 competition will feature an expanded field of 48 teams, increasing the number of playoff qualifiers from three in 2022 to four.

Intercontinental playoffs

This is the first year that six teams will participate in the intercontinental playoff.

For its inaugural intercontinental playoff, only two nations, Iran and Australia, competed in a two-game series to secure the last World Cup spot.

For two decades, from 2002 through 2022, the intercontinental playoff featured four competing teams vying for two qualification berths.

* Progressed via away goals rule after 3-3 aggregate draw