Which 48 countries will qualify for the 2026 World Cup, being held in Canada, the United States and Mexico next summer (from June 11 to July 19)? Although most countries are still searching for this precious ticket, some countries have already won their ticket to this competition. At this stage, 28 of them have obtained qualifications. The European zone, which was the slowest to start its qualifications, is the only one that has not released a single qualification.
In addition to six qualifiers from the Concacaf zone (North and Central America), six from the Conmebol zone (South America), eight from the AFC zone (Asia), nine from CAF (Africa), 16 from UEFA (Europe) and a ticket from OFC (Oceania), two places will be offered through intercontinental play-off tournaments, which are inaccessible to European teams. New Caledonia, which has qualified to receive the dam for the Oceania zone, will have access to it, as will Bolivia for the South American continent.
North and Central America Region
First, Canada, the United States and Mexico, which are the host countries, have the right to qualify directly. Three places are still up for grabs in the Concacaf zone (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Football) and will be awarded to the winners of each of the three qualifying groups in this final round. Therefore, there are 12 countries that are still participating. And the two best runners-up in the group still have hopes of taking part in the World Cup through the intercontinental play-off tournament.
South American region
The South American Confederation (Conmebol) is in pole position, with six teams already qualified: defending champions Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay. The seventh country, in this case Bolivia, can still win a ticket through the intercontinental play-offs, whose selection ends in 7th place in the qualifying phase.
Asian region
Behind him, the Asian Confederation has offered its ticket to six countries: theAustralia, Japan, Jordan, Uzbekistan, South Korea and Iran. Hervé Renard’s Saudi Arabia also punched its ticket to the 7th World Cup, as Qatar qualified, on the pitch, for the first time after learning of the competition as the host nation in 2022. There is only one place left up for grabs to access the play-off tournament.
Oceania Region
Meanwhile, the Oceanian Confederation has the first qualifier: New Zealand (direct qualifier). New Caledonia must overcome these restrictions if it wants to validate the first ticket in its history to the World Cup.
African Region
Morocco, semifinalists in the last edition, and Tunisia are the first qualifying teams from the African Confederation. Egypt followed suit, and won their qualifier without flinching against Djibouti on 8 October. Algeria joined this group after its victory over Somalia (3-0), followed by Ghana, then Cape Verde, who will be playing their first World Cup. Ivory Coast, South Africa and Senegal are also eligible to play in this World Cup. In total, the African continent has awarded nine direct World Cup tickets. Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon and DR Congo will compete in November for the only ticket to participate in the play-off tournament.
European Region
Europe starts its qualifying phase later, with 16 straight spots. Note also that the European zone is the zone that would benefit most from direct access to the World Cup, and is therefore the only zone that is not offered a ticket to the intercontinental play-offs. England became the first team to validate its ticket.
