2026 World Cup: Who has qualified, and how the rest can make it

Qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup began on Oct. 12, 2023, when minor nations from the Asian confederation played their first round of matches. Myanmar's Lwin Moe Aung scored the very first goal in a 5-1 win over Macau.

All confederations are drawing to a close, but we're a long way from discovering the list of 45 nations who will join hosts United States, Mexico and Canada to make up the full field of 48.

Japan were the very first country to qualify on March 20.

QUALIFIED (13/45): Japan, New Zealand, Iran, Argentina, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay

What can be decided this week?

South America: Wraps up its qualifying programme. The final three automatic qualifiers were decided on Thursday. On Tuesday, we'll find out which nation will be in the inter-confederation playoffs.

Europe and Concacaf: Qualifying, which ends in November, is still at an early stage and no country will book their place.

Africa: There are still four rounds to be played in the main group stage, but we could find out our first qualifiers next week.

Asia: The first six countries have booked their places, with the next round starting in October.

Oceania: Process complete, with New Zealand through and New Caledonia in the playoffs.

South America (CONMEBOL)
6 auto + 1 enters playoff

As in recent qualifying competitions, all 10 nations play each other home and away. The top six nations qualify directly to the finals. The seventh-placed team will go into the inter-confederation playoffs in March 2026.

The first qualifiers took place in September 2023, with the league phase to be completed on Tuesday.

What can be decided this week?

The final three automatic places were decided on Thursday when Venezuela suffered a 3-0 loss in Argentina.

That result guaranteed a place in the top six for Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay. They join Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador, who had already qualified.

All that's up for grabs on the final day, on Tuesday, is the inter-confederation playoffs slot -- and it's a two-horse race.

Venezuela sit seventh, a point ahead of Bolivia. Venezuela can get the job done themselves with a victory against Colombia. They will also be safe if Bolivia fail to win.

It's tough for Bolivia, who have far inferior goal difference so they must win at home to Brazil at altitude -- and hope Venezuela draw or lose.

- Check out the fixtures and results | Latest table

Europe (UEFA)
12 auto + 4 via confederation playoff

Qualifying finally began on March 21 when most of the European teams who are not in UEFA Nations League (UNL) action played their first matches.

There are 55 European nations, although 54 will compete as Russia remain suspended due to the invasion of Ukraine.

There are 12 groups of four or five teams, playing home and away matches. The group stage qualifying process continues with double-headers in September and October, and it's then completed in November.

World Cup groups - UEFA

The 12 group winners will qualify directly for the World Cup, with the 12 runners-up entering the playoff system.

What can be decided this week?

There are two rounds of fixtures, with the teams who were in the Nations League finals only just playing their first games -- and that means we're still a way off discovering our first qualifiers.

- Check out the latest fixtures and results here | Tables

PLAYOFFS

The final four places at the World Cup will be determined via the UEFA playoffs, to be played in March 2026. There is no path to the World Cup through FIFA's inter-confederation playoffs.

The UEFA playoffs involve 16 teams: the 12 runners-up plus the four best-ranked group winners from the UNL, who did not finish in the top two in World Cup qualifying. This creates four routes, each with four teams featuring a one-legged semifinal and a final for a place at the World Cup.

The priority order for the four World Cup playoff places through the UNL is: Spain, Germany, Portugal, France, England, Norway, Wales, Czechia, Romania, Sweden, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Moldova, San Marino

Of the 14 teams to win their UNL groups, 10 of those were in Pot 1 or 2 for the World Cup qualifying draw -- so on ranking would finish in the top two of their group. If that comes to pass, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Moldova and San Marino would get a playoff place.

Seeding:
Pot 1: World Cup qualifying group runners-up with the best four records
Pot 2: As above, teams fifth to eighth
Pot 3: As above, teams ninth to 12th
Pot 4: UEFA Nations League teams

Semifinals:
Pot 1 vs. Pot 4
Pot 2 vs. Pot 3

Africa (CAF)
9 auto + 1 enters playoff

There were 54 FIFA-affiliated nations in the draw.

However, Eritrea subsequently withdrew. Congo, in the same group, were suspended by FIFA on Feb. 6 due to government interference, though they had lost all three group games at the time.

Round 1: The teams are in eight groups of six nations, and one group of four (with Eritrea and Congo removed.)

The nine group winners qualify for the World Cup.

This stage began in November 2023 and will be completed with rounds to be played in September and October.

World Cup groups - Africa

What can be decided this week?

Egypt have a chance to punch their ticket from Group A. They host Ethiopia on Friday and travel to second-placed Burkina Faso on Tuesday. Victories in both games are guaranteed to take them to the World Cup.

No team can book their spot from Group B, but there are two huge games. On Friday it's Senegal (2nd, 12 points) vs. Sudan (3rd, 12 points). And then on Tuesday it's DR Congo (1st, 13 points) vs. Senegal.

South Africa have the chance to book their place from Group C if they win in Lesotho on Friday and at home to Nigeria on Tuesday, but they will need other results to go their way involving Benin and Rwanda.

Cape Verde Islands are top of Group D, a point ahead of Cameroon, after Thursday's games. Monday sees a critical showdown between the two countries, with Cape Verde hosting. Libya, who play Eswatini, could still get into it if the top two were to draw.

In Group E, Morocco are almost there and will qualify if they get more points than second-placed Tanzania this week.

Gabon won 4-0 in the Seychelles on Wednesday, so no team can make it from in Group F. There's a huge game on Tuesday as Gabon host Ivory Coast, who are two points behind with a game in hand (vs. Burundi on Friday).

Algeria can qualify from Group G this week. They have a six-point lead over Mozambique after beating Botswana on Thursday. Mozambique, who go to Uganda on Friday, would have to pick up no more than two points from their two fixtures for Algeria (with a win in Guinea) to get it done on Monday.

In Group H, Tunisia hold top spot over Namibia by seven points after a 3-0 win over Liberia on Thursday. Namibia host Malawi on Friday and must win to stay in realistic contention. Tunisia and Namibia do face off in the final group game.

Group I was thrown up in the air on Thursday. First, top-of-the-table Ghana (16) suffered a shock a 1-1 draw in Chad, who had lost every match. Then Madagascar (13) moved up to second by beating Central African Republic. Comoros (12) had the chance to go within a point of Ghana but lost 3-0 in Mali (12), who moved up into third. What looked like being a terrible day for Ghana ended with their three-point lead intact. Monday: Ghana host Mali, Madagascar take on Chad and Comoros are in Central African Republic.

- Check out the latest fixtures and results here | Latest tables

Round 2: The four best runners-up will enter playoffs (two semifinals and a final) to decide which one country will go to the inter-confederation playoffs. This stage will be played in November 2025.

North America, Central America, Caribbean (Concacaf)
3 auto + 2 enter playoff

Usually, Concacaf would have six automatic places in qualifying -- but for the 2026 finals three of the six are taken up by the hosts. That leaves three places to be won, plus two spots in the inter-confederation playoff path.

Concacaf saw 32 nations enter the race to make the finals.

Round 1: The four lowest-ranked Concacaf nations battled it out in two-legged ties. Anguilla and British Virgin Islands eliminated Turks and Caicos Islands and U.S. Virgin Islands respectively, both on penalties.

Round 2: The top 28-ranked nations, plus the two winners from Round 1, were drawn into six groups of five teams. Teams played each other only once, rather than home and away. This stage was played in two blocks, in June 2024 and June 2025.

The six group winners and six group runners-up moved on to Round 3.

Advanced: Bermuda, Costa Rica, Curaçao, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago

Round 3: The 12 remaining teams were drawn into three groups of four teams. This phase will be played in September, October and November. The group winners will qualify for the World Cup, with the two runners-up with the best record going on to take part in the inter-confederation playoffs.

Group A: Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Suriname
Group B: Jamaica, Curaçao, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda
Group C: Costa Rica, Honduras, Haiti, Nicaragua

- Check out the fixtures and results | Latest tables

What can be decided this week?

The third round only kicked off on Thursday, so we've a way to go yet.

Asia (AFC)
8 auto + 1 enters playoff

This is by some distance the most complicated route to the World Cup, with a layered qualifying process featuring a dual group stage to find the eight automatic qualifiers. But the main part will be done and dusted in June.

Round 1: The 20 lowest-ranked nations played two-legged ties in October 2023. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore and Yemen advanced.

Round 2: Those 10 winners joined the 26 best-ranked nations. The 36 teams were drawn into nine groups of four teams, with the top two nations going through to Round 3. This stage began in November 2023 and was completed in June 2024.

- Final tables

Advanced: Australia, Bahrain, China, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, North Korea, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan

Round 3: We're now left with 18 nations, drawn into three groups of six teams. Matches began in September 2024 and the round is completed on Tuesday.

The group winners and runners-up took the first six places at the 2026 World Cup and their campaign is complete.

Japan became the first team to qualify for the World Cup on March 20, followed by Iran, Jordan, South Korea, Uzbekistan and Australia.

- Check out the results | Final tables

Round 4: The six teams in this stage were drawn into two groups of three. They will play each other once, so two matches, in one host country in October.

Group A: Qatar (hosts), United Arab Emirates, Oman
Group B: Saudi Arabia (hosts), Iraq, Indonesia

The group winners take the final two automatic places at the World Cup.

The two runners-up continue on to Round 5.

Round 5: A two-legged tie in November 2025 to earn the place in the inter-confederation playoffs.

Oceania (OFC)
1 auto + 1 enters playoff

All 11 members of the OFC region took part.

Round 1: The four lowest-ranked nations played a knockout format (two semis and a final) in Samoa in September 2024.

American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga were in this round. Samoa beat Tonga 2-1 in the final to advance.

Round 2: Samoa and the seven top-ranked nations were drawn into two groups of four nations, with matches played in October and November 2024. Games were held in Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.

The top two countries in each group -- New Caledonia, Tahiti, New Zealand and Fiji -- went on to Round 3.

- Check out the results here | Final tables

Round 3: The four remaining countries then played a one-legged knockout format (two semis and a final) in New Zealand in March 2025.

Semifinals, March 21
New Caledonia 3-0 Tahiti
New Zealand 7-0 Fiji

Final, March 24
New Caledonia 0-3 New Zealand

As winners of the final, New Zealand qualified for the World Cup, with losers New Caledonia moving onto the inter-confederation playoffs.

Inter-confederation playoffs (2 places)

The playoffs, to be held in March 2026, will determine the final two qualifiers.

Six countries will take part. Each of the five confederations (apart from UEFA) will provide one country. The host confederation (so for this edition Concacaf) receives a second slot.

1 Africa
1 Asia
2 Concacaf
1 Oceania (New Caledonia)
1 South America

The two nations with the best FIFA World Ranking will be seeded and go straight into one of the two finals.

The four other countries will be drawn to play a semifinal, feeding through to play a seed for one of the two places at the World Cup.

The playoffs are due to be held in one of the World Cup host nations as a test event.