2026 FIFA World Cup qualification
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Tournament details
Dates2023 – March 2026
Teams211 (from 6 confederations)
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will be the qualifying process which will decide the teams that will join hosts Canada, Mexico and the United States at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Qualified countries

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  Teams qualified
  Team whose qualification process has yet to be decided
  Teams failed to qualify
  Teams withdrew or suspended
  Not a FIFA member
Team Method of
qualification 		Date of
qualification 		Finals
appearance 		Last
time
qualified 		Current
consecutive
appearances[note 1] 		Previous best
performance
 Canada Hosts 14 February 2023[note 2] 3rd 2022 2 Group stage (1986, 2022)
 Mexico Hosts 14 February 2023[note 2] 18th 2022 9 Quarter-finals (1970, 1986)
 United States Hosts 14 February 2023[note 2] 12th 2022 2 Third place (1930)

Notes

  1. ^ Including the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
  2. ^ a b c Although the United bid was selected on 13 June 2018, the automatic berths allocated to the hosts were not confirmed until a decision by the FIFA Council on 14 February 2023.[1]

Qualification process

On 9 May 2017, the FIFA Council approved the slot allocation scheme for the new 48-team final format.[2]

Summary of qualification

World Map FIFA2.svg
Confederation Direct slots Play-off slots Teams started Teams eliminated Teams qualified Qualifying start date Qualifying end date
AFC 8 1 46+1[a] 0+1 0 12 October 2023 October 2025
CAF 9 1 54 0 0 13 November 2023 18 November 2025
CONCACAF 3+3 2 32+3 0 0+3 March 2024 November 2025
CONMEBOL 6 1 10 0 0 September 2023 September 2025
OFC 1 1 11 0 0 TBD TBD
UEFA 16 — 55 0 0 March 2025 TBD
Play-offs 2 — (6) 0 0 March 2026 March 2026
Total 45+3 6 208+1+3 0+1 0+3 2023 March 2026
  1. ^ The Northern Mariana Islands will compete in World Cup qualification, as it is used as joint qualification for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. They are ineligible to qualify for the World Cup as they are not a member of FIFA, only of the AFC.

Confederation qualification

AFC

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

On 1 August 2022, the Asian Football Confederation Executive Committee approved the qualification format for Asia's road to the 2026 World Cup, as well as the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, in preparation for the eight direct spots and the single intercontinental play-off slot allocated to the AFC by FIFA following the expansion of the FIFA World Cup to 48 teams.[3]

The qualification structure is as follows:

CAF

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

The CAF Executive Committee announced a new African qualification format on 19 May 2023. Teams will be drawn into nine groups of six teams. The winner of each group will qualify for the World Cup, while the four best-ranked group runners-up will participate in a play-off to determine which team will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.[4][5]

CONCACAF

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

Three nations in CONCACAF—Canada, Mexico and the United States—automatically qualified as host nations. On 28 February 2023, CONCACAF announced the qualifying format for 2026 World Cup qualification.[6]

CONMEBOL

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

On 22 August 2022, CONMEBOL petitioned FIFA to keep the current qualification format, which has been used since the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification.[7][8][9][10] This was confirmed, with the first games of the qualifiers to be played in 2023.[11]

Prior to the commencement of the qualification competition, Ecuador were deducted 3 points for falsifying birth documents for Byron Castillo in the previous World Cup qualification cycle.[12]

OFC

For the first time, the OFC will be granted one guaranteed slot directly into the World Cup, as opposed to the OFC winner having to play an intercontinental play-off in the qualification process. A qualifying format is yet to be decided.

UEFA

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)

The UEFA Executive Committee announced a new European qualification format on 25 January 2023. Teams will be drawn into twelve groups of four or five teams. The winner of each group will qualify for the World Cup, while the second-placed teams will either qualify directly or participate in play-off matches.[13]

Due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia's national team is currently suspended and their participation is yet to be confirmed.

Inter-confederation play-offs

A play-off tournament involving six teams will be held to decide the last two FIFA World Cup berths:[14] these consist of one team per confederation, except for UEFA, and one additional team from the confederation of the host countries (CONCACAF).

Two of the teams will be seeded based on the World Rankings, and these seeded teams will play for a FIFA World Cup berth against the winners of the first two knockout games involving the four unseeded teams.

The four-game tournament is to be played in one or more of the host countries and to be used as a test event for the FIFA World Cup.

Notes

  1. ^ On the AFC website, it is listed as Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 1, as these are also qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup.
  2. ^ On the AFC website, it is listed as Preliminary Joint Qualification Round 2, as these are also qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup
  3. ^ On the AFC website, it is listed as AFC Asian Qualifiers
  4. ^ a b On the AFC website, it is listed as Asian Playoff

References

  1. ^ "FIFA Council highlights record breaking revenue in football". FIFA. 14 February 2023. Archived from the original on 14 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  2. ^ "FIFA Council prepares Congress, takes key decisions for the future of the FIFA World Cup". FIFA. 9 May 2017. Archived from the original on 18 June 2017.
  3. ^ "Asia's pathway to the FIFA World Cup 2026 and AFC Asian Cup 2027 confirmed". AFC. 1 August 2022. Archived from the original on 4 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  4. ^ "CAF Executive Committee approves FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers calendar and announces TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations Côte d'Ivoire 2023 Final Draw date". CAF. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  5. ^ "CAF reveals new format for 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers". CAF. 19 May 2023. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  6. ^ "CONCACAF announces formats for men's national team competitions for the 2023-2026 cycle". CONCACAF. 28 February 2023. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Conselho da Conmebol solicita à Fifa que mantenha formato atual das Eliminatórias para 2026". O Globo (in Portuguese). 22 August 2022. Archived from the original on 23 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  8. ^ "CONMEBOL's petition for the 2026 World Cup that could change FIFA's entire plans". Bolavip. 22 August 2022. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  9. ^ "CONCACAF learn the number of qualification places for 2026 World Cup". MARCA. 1 September 2022. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Países sudamericanos pedirán a la FIFA mantener el formato de las Eliminatorias" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 22 August 2022. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Conmebol confirmó fecha para el inicio de las Eliminatorias 2026". Bolavip (in Spanish). 4 October 2022. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  12. ^ "The CAS confirms the eligibility of the player Byron Castillo (Ecuador) but imposes sanctions against the Ecuadorian Football Federation for a violation of the FIFA regulations" (PDF). Court of Arbitration for Sport. 8 November 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  13. ^ "New formats for UEFA men's national team competitions approved". UEFA. 25 January 2023. Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Bureau of the Council recommends slot allocation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup". FIFA. 30 March 2017. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
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