2026 FIFA World Cup: Who Has Certified? Who Can Make It?

 Ready for the world’s biggest sporting event? The countdown is on for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 

Spread across the countries (Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.), 48 teams will take part in the largest edition of the tournament ever next summer.

The qualifying process picks back up in October. Which teams are already in and which ones are close to booking their spot?

When is the World Cup?

The World Cup will run from June 11–July 19, 2026. Spread across three countries, the tournament will culminate with the final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The FOX family of networks and the FOX Sports app are your complete home for World Cup content, including live matches, complete highlights, commentary and analysis, and full-match replays.

What we know:

• 48 teams will participate in the World Cup;
• 46 of those will qualify directly; the other two will be via the six-team intercontinental playoff;
• Three co-host teams — Canada, Mexico, United States — are in;
• Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay are all in after qualifying through the South American (CONMEBOL) confederation;
• Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea and Uzbekistan are in after qualifying through the Asian (AFC) confederation;
• Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia are in after qualifying through the African (CAF) confederation;
• New Zealand is in after qualifying through the Oceania (OFC) confederation;

Who’s in (alphabetical order, whole World Cup appearances):

• Algeria (5 appearances)
• Australia (7 appearances)
• Argentina (19 appearances)
• Brazil (23 appearances)
• Canada (3 appearances)
• Colombia (6 appearances)
• Ecuador (5 appearances)
• Egypt (4 appearances)
• Iran (7 appearances)
• Japan (8 appearances)
• Jordan (will make debut in 2026)
• Mexico (18 appearances)
• Morocco (7 appearances)
• New Zealand (3 appearances)
• Paraguay (8 appearances)
• South Korea (12 appearances)
• Tunisia (7 appearances)
• Uruguay (14 appearances)
• United States (12 appearances)
• Uzbekistan (will make debut in 2026)

The place Issues Stand Throughout the Globe:

Asia (AFC) — With six groups in, there are a further six are vying for 2 extra spots in October. Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman are in a single round-robin group. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Indonesia are within the different. Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Uzbekistan and South Korea have already instantly certified. 

South America (CONMEBOL) — The qualifying rounds are achieved. Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, and Uruguay have booked direct spots. Bolivia secured an intercontinental playoff spot. Chile, Peru, and Venezuela have been eradicated. 

Europe (UEFA) — The motion continues in October however no groups have clinched spots but. Spain, England, Portugal and Norway are in charge of their teams. Italy is locked in a decent battle to lastly qualify for the primary time since 2014. 

North America/Central America/Caribbean (CONCACAF) — Except for the three co-hosts, nobody from this area has booked their spot but. There are 12 groups (break up into three teams) taking part in via November. The three group winners will head on to the World Cup. Search for groups like Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Honduras to be among the many contenders. 

Africa (CAF) — There are 9 teams of six groups with the winners of every group instantly advancing. Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia have already clinched their spots. 

Oceania (OFA) — That is achieved and dusted, with New Zealand already in and having this confederation’s solely direct spot. The tiny island of New Caledonia, formally a French abroad territory, nonetheless has a shot as a participant within the intercontinental playoff. 

The intercontinental playoffs, defined:

Forward of the World Cup, two spots can be clinched within the playoffs that can happen in March 2026. Six groups will take part, with Europe (UEFA) being excluded from this spherical:

• 1 Africa (TBD)
• 1 Asia (TBD)
• 2 North and Central America/Caribbean (TBD)
• 1 Oceania (New Caledonia)
• 1 South America (Venezuela)

The 2 groups with the very best FIFA rankings will get byes to the 2 separate finals. The opposite 4 groups will face one another to achieve these finalists. The 2 groups to emerge from this playoff spherical will go to the World Cup. 

Area-by-region breakdown:

AFC (Asia)

What number of World Cup groups can qualify? 
8 mechanically, 1 enters the intercontinental playoff spherical

Who’s in?
Australia, Iran, Jordan, Japan, South Korea, Uzbekistan

What’s occurred to date?

The qualifying match in Asia began again in October 2023 with 46 groups collaborating. After three rounds of qualifying, six groups have booked World Cup spots, with two extra direct spots up (and one playoff berth) up for grabs.

Spherical 4 consists of six groups (the third- and fourth-placed groups from Spherical 3), and break up into two teams. These group winners advance to the World Cup. These video games can be performed in October. 

The runners-up play one another in Spherical 5, with the winner then heading to the intercontinental playoff.  

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CAF (Africa)

What number of World Cup groups can qualify?
9 mechanically, 1 enters the intercontinental playoff spherical

Who’s in?
Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia

What’s occurred to date?

In all, 54 groups (now decreased to 52) are break up into 9 teams of six groups every. We noticed the primary two groups lastly qualify in September. 

The 9 group winners will advance on to the World Cup, and the 4 finest second-place groups will enter a playoff spherical (two semifinals and a ultimate) to resolve which one will attain the intercontinental playoffs.

Morocco, the 2022 World Cup shock semifinals, gained their group. Algeria, Egypt, and Tunisia have additionally booked a spot. Cape Verde, Ghana and Senegal are in charge of their respective teams.

Here is the highest two groups in every group. Groups which have certified have an asterisk (*). Full standings can be found here.

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CONCACAF (North & Central America and the Caribbean)

What number of World Cup groups can qualify?
6 mechanically (3 co-hosts, 3 via qualifying), 2 enter the intercontinental playoff spherical

Who’s in?
Canada, Mexico, United States

What’s occurred to date?

The three co-hosts are in, leaving three extra computerized spots for the area. There are additionally two spots for the intercontinental playoff to be decided. Initially, 32 groups started the method, with 30 groups – six teams of 5 groups – advancing into the second spherical of qualification, which concluded in June. The highest two groups from every group superior to Spherical 3. 

Spherical 3 will start in September with three teams of 4 groups. The winners transfer onto the World Cup, and the 2 finest runners-up get intercontinental playoff spots.

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CONMEBOL (South America)

What number of World Cup groups can qualify?
6 mechanically, 1 enters the intercontinental playoff spherical

Who’s in?
Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay, Bolivia (playoff)

What’s occurred to date?

Six groups from the 10-team area have clinched, with Argentina, Brazil, and Ecuador transferring onto the World Cup. Uruguay, Paraguay, and Colombia additionally booked their spots. Venezuela presently holds a slim lead for the playoff spot over Bolivia. Chile and Peru are formally eradicated. 

Here is how the present desk stands. Groups which have certified have an asterisk (*) and the intercontinental playoff-bound crew has the arrow (ˆ). Full standings can be found here. 

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OFC (Oceania)

What number of World Cup groups have certified?
1 mechanically, 1 enters the intercontinental playoff spherical

Who’s in?
New Zealand, New Caledonia (playoff crew)

What’s occurred to date:

The 11-team qualifying match from this area, consisting of nations and territories within the South Pacific, concluded in March. One crew emerged from Spherical 1, becoming a member of the seven top-ranked groups of the area. These eight groups have been break up into two teams for Spherical 2, with the highest two groups from every group advancing to the semifinals. Full standings can be found here. 

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

Last, March 24
New Zealand 3, New Caledonia 0

New Zealand will head to the World Cup, whereas New Caledonia can be one of many six groups within the intercontinental playoff. 

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UEFA (Europe)

What number of World Cup groups can qualify?
16 (12 mechanically, 4 via a UEFA-only playoff)

Who’s in?
None certified but

What’s occurred to date:

There are 54 (excluding Russia) groups who started the qualifying course of in March. Some notable groups have already begun the qualifying course of – together with England, Italy, and the Netherlands. Different prime groups – France, Germany, Spain, Portugal – began the method in September. 

In all, there are 12 teams of both 4 or 5 groups every. The winner of every group will clinch World Cup spots.

The 12 runners-up transfer to a subsequent playoff spherical, added by the 4 best-ranked Nations League group winners that didn’t end their World Cup qualifying group in first or second place. These 16 groups will then be bracketed to clinch the remaining 4 World Cup spots in March 2026.

European groups can’t attain the World Cup through the intercontinental playoff. Full standings could be discovered here. 

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