We’re almost there.
The November international window is over, and 42 teams have now qualified for the biggest FIFA World Cup ever, to be held in June and July in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
Six spots are still open and will be decided in March of 2026.
We’ll get to that in a second, but first, let’s see who’s made it.
Who’s In?
AFC (Asia)
Qualified (group winners)
Iran
Japan
South Korea
Qualified (group runners-up)
Australia
Jordan
Uzbekistan
Qualified (playoffs)
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
CAF (Africa)
Qualified (group winners)
Algeria
Cape Verde
Cote d’Ivoire
Egypt
Ghana
Morocco
Senegal
South Africa
Tunisia
CONMEBOL (South America)
Qualified (top 6 teams)
Argentina
Ecuador
Colombia
Uruguay
Brazil
Paraguay
CONCACAF (North & Central America)
Qualified (host nations)
Canada
Mexico
USA
Qualified (playoffs)
Curacao
Haiti
Panama
UEFA
Qualified (group winners)
Austria
Belgium
Croatia
England
France
Germany
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
Scotland
Spain
Switzerland
OFC (Oceania)
Qualified (tournament winner)
New Zealand
Who’s Almost In - The Playoffs
UEFA Playoffs
The 12 group winners have already booked their places.
The 12 group runners-up have been joined by the four best-ranked group winners from the UEFA Nations League who didn’t finish 1st or 2nd in their groups.
These 16 teams have been broken up into four ‘paths’, with a semifinal and a final for each path. The four winners of each path qualify for the World Cup.
Path A Semifinals:
Italy v Northern Ireland
Wales v Bosnia-Herzegovina
(Winners play for World Cup spot)
Path B Semifinals:
Ukraine v Sweden
Poland v Albania
(Winners play for World Cup spot)
Path C Semifinals:
Turkey v Romania
Slovakia v Kosovo
(Winners play for World Cup spot)
Path D Semifinals:
Denmark v North Macedonia
Czech Republic v Ireland
(Winners play for World Cup spot)
Intercontinental Playoffs
These will also be held in March of 2026 and will determine the final two qualifiers for the World Cup.
Six nations will take part.
UEFA does not have a representative because it has its own playoff.
Four other confederations have one country in the playoffs, but CONCACAF (the host confederation) has two.
The two nations with the best FIFA World Rankings – Iraq and DR Congo – have been seeded and go straight into one of the two finals.
The four other countries have been drawn into semifinals, with the winners meeting the two seeded teams for the final World Cup places.
The Intercontinental playoffs will be held in Guadalajara and Monterrey, Mexico, both World Cup host cities.
Semifinal 1:
New Caledonia v Jamaica
(Winner plays DR Congo for World Cup spot)
Semifinal 2:
Bolivia v Suriname
(Winner plays Iraq for World Cup spot)