This morning, the World Cup preliminaries in CONCACAF ended, and three teams joined the ranks of direct qualifying for the World Cup.
At this point, the World Cup preliminaries on all continents have ended, and the remaining 6 places will be decided in the European play-offs (16 teams competing for 4 places) and the cross-continental play-offs (6 teams competing for 2 places) in March next year.
2026 U.S.-Canada-Mexico World Cup 48 teams (42 teams directly from the World Cup preliminaries)
Hosts:
United States, Mexico, Canada
European region direct 12 teams:
England, France, Croatia, Portugal, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Scotland
Team 9 from Africa:
Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal
Team 8 from Asia
Japan, Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Team 6 from South America
Argentina , Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay
CONCACAF 3 teams + host team 3
Panama, Curacao, Haiti
Oceania direct team 1
New Zealand
European play-off teams and brackets:
First pot: Italy, Denmark, Turkey , Ukraine
Second pot: Poland, Wales, Czech Republic, Slovakia
Third pot: Ireland, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo
Fourth pot (UEFA Nations League): Sweden, Romania, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland
* The play-off draw will be held on November 20, local time, and participating teams will compete for the last four promotion places.
The 16 teams will be divided into four groups and adopt a two-round single-elimination elimination system. In the first round of the draw, the teams in the first group of each group will vs. the teams in the fourth group, and the teams in the second group will vs. the teams in the third group. The winners of these two games will play in the second round, and the final winner will advance to the World Cup main game.
The first and second tier teams will have home field advantage in the first round of the play-offs, while each game in the second round will be drawn to determine the home and away games.
The two rounds of the World European Qualifiers will be held on March 26 and March 31 next year respectively.
Intercontinental play-off teams:
Asia (1 team): Iraq (FIFA 57th)
Africa (1 team): Democratic Congo (FIFA 60th)
South America (Team 1): Bolivia (FIFA 76th)
Central and North America and the Caribbean (Team 2): Jamaica (FIFA 68th), Suriname (FIFA 126th)
Oceania (Team 1): New Caledonia (FIFA No. 143
*The four lowest-ranked FIFA teams will compete in the group semi-finals. The two highest-ranked teams will directly advance to the play-off finals. The winners of the two finals will get tickets to the 2026 United States, Canada and Mexico World Cup.
The cross-continental play-off situation: Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have higher rankings and lock in a finals spot.
