2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

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2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Tournament details
Dates	7 September 2023–March 2026
Teams	211 (from 6 confederations)
Tournament statistics
Matches played	10
Goals scored	20 (2 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Neymar Rodrygo Félix Torres Nicolás de la Cruz (2 goals each)
← 2022 2030 →

The 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification is the qualifying process which will decide the teams that will join hosts Canada, Mexico, and the United States at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Qualification began on 7 September 2023, and the Colombian forward Rafael Santos Borré scored the first goal of qualification.

Qualified teams

Team	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Total times qualified	Last time qualified	Current consecutive appearances	Previous best performance
Canada	Hosts	14 February 2023	3	2022	2	Group stage (1986, 2022)
Mexico	Hosts	14 February 2023	18	2022	9	Quarter-finals (1970, 1986)
United States	Hosts	14 February 2023	12	2022	2	Third place (1930)
Japan	AFC third round Group C winners	20 March 2025	8	2022	8	Round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018, 2022)
New Zealand	OFC third round winners	24 March 2025	3	2010	1	Group stage (1982, 2010)
Iran	AFC third round Group A winners/runners-up	25 March 2025	7	2022	4	Group stage (1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018, 2022)
Argentina	CONMEBOL top six	25 March 2025	19	2022	14	Winners (1978, 1986, 2022)

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.

The qualification structure is as follows:

• First round: 22 teams (ranked 26–47) will play home-and-away over two legs. The eleven winners advance to the second round.
• Second round: 36 teams (ranked 1–25 and eleven first-round winners) are divided into nine groups of four teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The eighteen group winners and group runners-up advance to the third round.
• Third round: 18 teams which advance from the second round are divided into three groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The top two teams of each group qualify for the World Cup, the third and fourth-placed teams advance to the fourth round.
• Fourth round: Six third and fourth-placed teams from the third round are divided into two groups of three teams each to play in a single round robin. The winners advance to the World Cup.
• Fifth round: The group runners-up in the previous round will compete in a play-off tie to determine the Asian representation at the inter-confederation play-offs.

CAF

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CAF)

The draw was held on 13 July 2023 at 15:00 GMT (UTC±0) in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. All 54 FIFA-affiliated football associations from CAF have entered qualification.

The CAF Executive Committee announced a new African qualification format on 19 May 2023.

The qualification structure is as follows:

• First round: Teams were drawn into nine groups of six teams to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The winner of each group will qualify for the World Cup.
• Second round: 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.

CONCACAF

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONCACAF)

On 31 August 2022, during a visit to Guatemala, FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed six CONCACAF teams will qualify for the World Cup, including Canada, Mexico and the United States as hosts. Also, two CONCACAF teams will go to the inter-confederation play-offs. On 28 February 2023, CONCACAF announced the qualifying format for 2026 World Cup qualification.

• First round: Four CONCACAF teams, ranked 29 to 32 based on the FIFA rankings of November 2023, will be divided into two matchups, played on a two-legged home-and-away basis. The two winners will advance to the second round.
• Second round: Thirty teams, the two winners from the first round and CONCACAF teams ranked 1 to 28 based on the FIFA rankings of November 2023, will be drawn into six groups of five teams. They will play single round-robin matches (two home and two away), with group winners and runners-up qualifying for the third round.
• Third round: The twelve teams advancing from the second round will be drawn into three groups of four teams. They will play double round-robin home-and-away matches, with the three group winners qualifying for the World Cup. The two best-ranked runners-up will advance to the inter-confederation play-offs.

CONMEBOL

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)

On 22 August 2022, CONMEBOL petitioned FIFA to keep the qualification format which had been used since the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification, viz. all CONMEBOL members play home-and-away round-robin matches against each other. This was approved, with the first games of the qualifiers to be played in 2023.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Argentina	6	5	0	1	8	2	+6	15	2026 FIFA World Cup		—	0–2	Jun '25	Sep '25	1–0	Mar '25	1–0	Sep	Oct	Nov '24
2	Uruguay	6	4	1	1	13	5	+8	13			Mar '25	—	Nov '24	Jun '25	Oct	2–0	Sep	3–1	3–0	Sep '25
3	Colombia	6	3	3	0	6	3	+3	12			Sep	2–2	—	1–0	Nov '24	2–1	Mar '25	Oct	Sep '25	Jun '25
4	Venezuela	6	2	3	1	6	3	+3	9			Oct	Sep	Sep '25	—	0–0	Nov '24	1–0	3–0	Jun '25	Mar '25
5	Ecuador	6	3	2	1	5	3	+2	8			Sep '25	2–1	0–0	Mar '25	—	Jun '25	Oct	1–0	Nov '24	Sep
6	Brazil	6	2	1	3	8	7	+1	7			0–1	Nov '24	Mar '25	1–1	Sep	—	Jun '25	Sep '25	5–1	Oct
7	Paraguay	6	1	2	3	1	3	−2	5	Inter-confederation play-offs		Nov '24	Jun '25	0–1	Oct	Sep '25	Sep	—	Mar '25	1–0	0–0
8	Chile	6	1	2	3	3	7	−4	5			Jun '25	Sep '25	0–0	Nov '24	Mar '25	Oct	0–0	—	Sep	2–0
9	Bolivia	6	1	0	5	4	14	−10	3			0–3	Mar '25	Oct	Sep	1–2	Sep '25	Nov '24	Jun '25	—	2–0
10	Peru	6	0	2	4	1	8	−7	2			0–2	Oct	Sep	1–1	Jun '25	0–1	Sep '25	Nov '24	Mar '25	—

Updated to match(es) played on 21 November 2023. Source: FIFA
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers

• ECU=Ecuador were deducted 3 points for falsifying birth documents for Byron Castillo in the previous World Cup qualification cycle.

OFC

Main article: 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (OFC)

2026 marks the first time OFC will be granted one guaranteed slot in the World Cup, as well as a possible second slot via the inter-confederation play-offs.

The four lowest-ranked teams will play a series of matches in September 2024 in the first of three rounds of qualification. The winning team will join the seven highest-ranked teams in two four-team groups in the second round, and four teams will play a three-match knockout round in March 2025 with the winner qualifying for the World Cup and the runner-up going to the inter-confederation play-offs.

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 to play home-and-away round-robin matches. The winner of each group will qualify for the World Cup, while the second-placed teams will participate in play-off matches.

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

• First round (group stage): Twelve groups of either four or five teams with group winners qualifying for the World Cup finals.
• Play-off stage: 16 teams (twelve group runners-up and four best Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall ranking, that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group) will be drawn into four play-off paths, playing two rounds of single-match playoffs (semi-finals with the seeded teams to host, followed by finals, with the home teams to be drawn). The four path winners will qualify for the World Cup finals.

Inter-confederation play-offs

A playoff tournament involving six teams will be held to decide the last two FIFA World Cup berths, consisting 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 FIFA Men's World Rankings; the 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 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. The existing playoffs scheduled for November 2025 have been suggested as a tentative date for the 2026 edition.