TL;DR
- The 2026 FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by The United States, Canada, and Mexico, will feature 48 teams for the first time.
- Qualification pathways have expanded, with AFC and CAF receiving more guaranteed spots than in previous tournaments.
- Uzbekistan, Jordan, and Cape Verde have secured their first-ever World Cup appearances in the ongoing qualification process.
- The tournament will span 40 days with 104 matches, kicking off on June 11, 2026, and concluding on July 19, 2026.
The 23rd FIFA World Cup, co-hosted by The United States, Canada, and Mexico, is scheduled to commence in seven months' time, in the year 2026.
Lionel Messi concluded his extensive and sometimes difficult journey to triumph with Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. La Albiceleste have since successfully defended their Copa America championship and are currently at the forefront of CONMEBOL qualification for the upcoming World Cup.
The 2026 tournament will be the first time 48 teams have competed at the World Cup finals, expanding from the 32-team format that was used at seven consecutive tournaments from 1998 to 2022.
This signifies a shift in the qualification criteria for teams aiming to advance from the six continental bodies: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, and UEFA. Consequently, what is the pathway to the 2026 World Cup?
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The qualification process for the FIFA World Cup 2026 is still underway.
With the expanded format, each confederation receives additional slots. The AFC now boasts twice the qualification spots compared to Qatar 2022, increasing from four guaranteed places to eight, and Africa will have nine participating nations, up from five.
CONCACAF's representation will at least double from its 2022 count, increasing from three to six spots. However, three of these are automatically secured by The United States, Mexico, and Canada due to their host status. Similar to the last World Cup, two additional spots will be determined through an inter-continental playoff.
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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.
Clubs that secured spots in 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 |
| _ | UEFA | |
| _ | UEFA | |
| _ | UEFA | |
| _ | UEFA | |
| _ | UEFA | |
| _ | UEFA | |
| _ | UEFA | |
| _ | UEFA | |
| _ | UEFA | |
| _ | UEFA | |
| _ | UEFA | |
| Inter-continental playoff winner 1 | _ | |
| Inter-continental playoff winner 1 | _ |
What's the process for qualifying for the 2026 World Cup?
AFC
The AFC commenced its vital third stage of qualification in September 2024. Eighteen nations were divided into three groups of six teams each, competing in 10 matches within a round-robin structure. The leading two teams from each of Group A, B, and C will secure direct berths to the World Cup.
Japan became the initial confirmed qualifiers from The Asian region, having already guaranteed a position within the top two of Group C by the midpoint of the March international break. Iran quickly joined them in securing their place through Group A, and Uzbekistan clinched their inaugural World Cup berth by finishing as runners-up to Iran.
Teams finishing third and fourth in their respective groups will move on to a subsequent round, divided into two three-team pools. In October 2025, each team will play every opponent within its pool once. The victors of these two pools will secure direct qualification for The World Cup. The second-place teams will then compete in a two-leg playoff in November 2025 to determine the final AFC representative for the intercontinental playoff.
CAF
Nine groups of six teams play each other home and away in Africa. The winner of each section at the end of the 10 games progresses directly to the World Cup.
The four top runners-up from the initial round-robin stage advance to a playoff, and the victor proceeds to the intercontinental playoff as the CAF representative.
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CONCACAF
CONCACAF's second qualification round commenced in June 2024, featuring 30 nations divided into six quintets. Every team will face each adversary within their group one time, completing two away and two home fixtures by the phase's end in June 2025.
The top two finishers from each group will proceed to the 12-team third round, which will consist of three groups of four. Starting in September 2025, teams within each group will compete against each other at home and away. The three group victors will qualify for The World Cup, and the two highest-ranked second-place teams will enter the intercontinental playoff.
CONMEBOL
The marathon World Cup qualification round for South America remains unchanged, featuring all 10 confederation nations competing against each other twice, home and away, within a demanding league structure.
With The World Cup now larger, qualifying has become somewhat simpler, as the top six teams will advance directly, and the seventh-place team will likely enter the intercontinental playoff as the favored side.
Argentina clinched their place at the finals thanks to a memorable 4-1 demolition of arch rivals Brazil.
OFC
For the first time ever, the OFC will have a guaranteed participant in the 2026 World Cup finals. The second round, which took place in October and November 2024, featured two groups of four teams competing for the four available spots in the third round.
The leading two teams from each second-round group will proceed to a three-game playoff scheduled for March 2025. New Caledonia secured victory over Tahiti in the initial semifinal, while New Zealand achieved a decisive 7-0 win against Fiji in the subsequent semifinal.
New Zealand secured the automatic qualification spot after a 3-0 victory in the OFC final. New Caledonia will proceed to the inter-confederation playoffs, offering them another, albeit remote, opportunity.
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 top two ranked teams in the six-nation playoff will receive byes. The remaining four teams will compete in a preliminary round, with the victors advancing to play one of the seeded teams for the last two World Cup spots.
The four-game playoff will serve as a World Cup test event, taking place in one or more of the host nations.
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) |
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place in __PLH_month__ __PLH_day__, __PLH_year__.
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.
The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place on __PLH_DATE__.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw takes place on December 5, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
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