JUMP TO:
- Who has qualified for the 2026 World Cup?
- How does qualification work?
- When does the World Cup start?
- When is the World Cup draw?
Qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is into its final stages.
At the end of the November international break, the identity of 42 of the 48 finalists for the expanded international football showpiece will be known.
The remaining six spots will be filled by the UEFA and inter-confederation playoffs in March.
Argentina will defend their title after Lionel Messi completed his long and occasionally tortuous path to glory at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. La Albiceleste have since retained their Copa America title and finished top of the notoriously gruelling CONMEBOL qualifying section.
Here's everything you need to know about World Cup qualification, who has made it to the finals and how many teams from each continent will take part.
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Who has qualified for World Cup 2026?
Each confederation has more slots available under the expanded format. The AFC has double the qualification spots it had at Qatar 2022, up from four guaranteed places to eight, while there will be nine African nations instead of five.
CONCACAF will have at least double its 2022 representatives, up from three to six, although half of those slots are accounted for by the United States, Mexico and Canada qualifying automatically as hosts. As was the case at the previous World Cup, two slots will be decided via an inter-continental playoff.
MORE: Host countries, cities for FIFA 2026 World Cup
Of note, Uzbekistan and Jordan both qualified for their first-ever World Cup appearances in the summer of 2025. By finishing top two in their group in the third round of AFC qualification, they secured an automatic bid to the competition.
Following them shortly after was Cape Verde, as the tiny island nation of just 600,000 people earned their first-ever World Cup spot by winning their group ahead of Cameroon.
Teams qualified for the 2026 World Cup
| Nation | Confederation | Last World Cup appearance |
| United States (host) | CONCACAF | 2022 |
| Mexico (host) | CONCACAF | 2022 |
| Canada (host) | CONCACAF | 2022 |
| _ | CONCACAF | |
| _ | CONCACAF | |
| _ | CONCACAF | |
| Japan | AFC | 2022 |
| Iran | AFC | 2022 |
| Uzbekistan | AFC | None (First appearance) |
| Australia | AFC | 2022 |
| South Korea | AFC | 2022 |
| Jordan | AFC | None (First appearance) |
| Saudi Arabia | AFC | 2022 |
| Qatar | AFC | 2022 |
| Morocco | CAF | 2022 |
| Tunisia | CAF | 2022 |
| Egypt | CAF | 2018 |
| Algeria | CAF | 2014 |
| Ghana | CAF | 2022 |
| Cape Verde | CAF | None (First appearance) |
| South Africa | CAF | 2010 |
| Senegal | CAF | 2022 |
| Ivory Coast | CAF | 2014 |
| Argentina | CONMEBOL | 2022 |
| Ecuador | CONMEBOL | 2022 |
| Brazil | CONMEBOL | 2022 |
| Colombia | CONMEBOL | 2018 |
| Uruguay | CONMEBOL | 2022 |
| Paraguay | CONMEBOL | 2010 |
| New Zealand | OFC | 2010 |
| England | UEFA | 2022 |
| France | UEFA | 2022 |
| Croatia | UEFA | 2022 |
| Portugal | UEFA | 2022 |
| Norway | UEFA | 1998 |
| Germany | UEFA | 2022 |
| Netherlands | UEFA | 2022 |
| Spain | UEFA | 2022 |
| Belgium | UEFA | 2022 |
| Switzerland | UEFA | 2022 |
| Austria | UEFA | 1998 |
| Scotland | UEFA | 1998 |
| _ | UEFA (playoffs) | |
| _ | UEFA (playoffs) | |
| _ | UEFA (playoffs) | |
| _ | UEFA (playoffs) | |
| Inter-continental playoff winner 1 | _ | |
| Inter-continental playoff winner 1 | _ |
How does qualification work for 2026 World Cup?
AFC
The AFC began its crucial third round of qualification in September 2024. Eighteen teams were split across three six-team groups to contest 10 games in a round-robin format. The top two in each of Groups A, B and C qualified automatically for the World Cup.
The teams placed third and fourth in each group advanced to a fourth round split between two groups of three. Those groups were played out during the October international break, with Qatar and Saudi Arabia - the previous and next World Cup hosts - going through to the finals.
Runners-up the United Arab Emirates and Iraq played a two-legged tie in November to decide the AFC representative at the inter-confederation playoff. Iraq prevailed 3-2 on aggregate.
CAF
Nine groups of six teams played each other home and away in Africa. The winner of each section at the end of the 10 games progressed directly to the World Cup.
The four best runners-up from the initial round-robin phase entered into a playoff. DR Congo prevailed to with the playoff on penalties against Nigeria, moving them into March's inter-confederation round.
MORE: Can Nigeria still qualify for World Cup 2026?
CONCACAF
CONCACAF began the second round of its qualification phase in June 2024, with 30 teams drawn into six groups of five. Each team played every opponent in their group once, with two away games and two home games once the phase concluded in June 2025.
The top two in each group advanced to the 12-team third round, where there were three groups of four. Beginning in September 2025, the nations in each group played one another home and away. The three group winners advance to the World Cup, with the two best-ranked runners-up going into the inter-confederation playoff.
CONMEBOL
South America retained its celebrated marathon World Cup qualification round, with all 10 of the confederation's countries playing one another home and away in a gruelling league format.
The expanded World Cup means qualification is a little easier, with the top six advancing automatically. Seventh-placed Bolivia will attempt to return to the World Cup for the first time since USA '94 in the inter-confederation playoff.
Argentina clinched their place at the finals thanks to a memorable 4-1 demolition of arch rivals Brazil. The Selecao ended the campaign in fifth spot, one of four teams to finish the campaign on 28 points.
OFC
The 2026 World Cup is the first time the OFC has been guaranteed a representative at the finals. The second round, running across October and November 2024, saw two groups of four playing for the four spots in round three.
The top two in each round-two group advanced to a three-match playoff in March 2025. New Caledonia defeated Tahiti in the first semifinal, with New Zealand thrashing Fiji 7-0 in the other.
New Zealand then claimed the automatic qualifying place by winning the OFC final 3-0. New Caledonia will enter the inter-confederation playoffs, so they have another chance to get there, albeit a slim one.
UEFA
Twelve of UEFA's 16 spots will be taken by the group winners from the initial format of four or five-team groups. The 12 runners-up, along with the four best UEFA Nations League group winners that finished outside of the top two in their World Cup qualifying groups, enter the playoffs.
Those 16 teams will be drawn into four paths with two single-game rounds. The seeded teams will be at home in the semifinals, with a home nation for the four finals to be drawn prior to the match. The winners from each path advance to the World Cup. UEFA is the only confederation without a representative in the inter-continental playoff.
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Inter-continental playoff
The two teams in the six-nation playoff with the highest FIFA ranking will be seeded. The four unseeded teams play an effective semifinal, with the two winners progressing to face a seed apiece to decide the final two places at the World Cup.
The four-game playoff will be used as a World Cup test event and played in one or more of the host countries.
Intercontinental Playoff participants
| Nation | Confederation | Qualified Via | Last World Cup appearance |
| _ | AFC | Fifth Round playoff winner | |
| DR Congo | CAF | Second Round playoff winner | 1978 |
| _ | CONCACAF | Highest-ranking Third Round group runner-up | |
| _ | CONCACAF | 2nd-highest ranking Third Round group runner-up | |
| Bolivia | CONMEBOL | Seventh Place in CONMEBOL qualification table | 1994 |
| New Caledonia | OFC | Third Round runners-up | None (Never qualified) |
When is the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 11, with co-hosts Mexico in action at the Azteca, which hosted the 1970 and 1986 World Cup finals.
MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, will host the final on July 19. The overall span of 40 days will make this the longest World Cup in history, with the 48 finalists contesting a total of 104 matches.
When is the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw takes place on December 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
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