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Who has qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup? How many teams will qualify for finals in Mexico, Canada and United States?
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Updated 14/10/2025 at 22:50 GMT+1
How many teams will qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted across Canada, Mexico and the United States? Who has qualified already? How many slots does each confederation get? The answer to these questions are below as we start to prepare for the next edition of the men's World Cup - which, for the first time, sees 48 teams play in the competition, rather than 32.
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With under a year to go until the 2026 World Cup, the 48-team tournament is starting to take shape, with Cape Verde the latest nation to stamp their ticket to the finals.
Hosts Canada, Mexico and the United States were the first three teams to qualify, via an automatic berth, but over the coming months, we will see more and more teams confirm their place in the finals.
Uzbekistan and Jordan have made history by reaching the World Cup for the very first time through the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) qualification process.
Japan, South Korea and Iran have also booked their places in the competition.
Defending champions Argentina became the first South American team to secure their spot in the tournament and emphatically beat bitter rivals Brazil 4-1 in qualifying to underline their title credentials.
Carlo Ancelotti's Brazil have also qualified, extending their record as the only team to play at every World Cup as they prepare for a 23rd straight appearance.
Uruguay, winners of the first World Cup in 1930, also secured their passage alongside Paraguay. Colombia joined the raft of already-qualified South American nations.
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New Zealand will be at the tournament for the first time since 2010, and will be joined by AFC members Australia, who have secured their spot at a sixth successive World Cup.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia both sealed their spots by virtue of finishing top of their respective fourth-round groups.
Meanwhile, Morocco and Tunisia became the first two nations from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to book their places in next year's tournament.
Mohamed Salah later helped Egypt to qualify with a double against Djibouti, while Riyad Mahrez scored twice as Algeria beat Somalia 3-0 to book their place at football's biggest show for the first time since 2014.
Ghana qualified for their fifth World Cup, beating Comoros 1-0 and South Africa joined them after beating Rwanda 3-0 in October.
Ivory Coast and Senegal likewise booked their spots shortly afterwards.
And Cape Verde became the second-smallest nation to reach the World Cup finals, sealing their place with a 3-0 home win over Eswatini.
Cape Verde is an archipelago of 10 islands in the Atlantic Ocean, with a population of just under 525,000.
In the October international break, England became the first European nation to qualify for the World Cup after beating Latvia 5-0.
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Who has qualified so far for the 2026 World Cup?
Hosts
- Canada
- Mexico
- United States of America
AFC
- Japan
- Iran
- Uzbekistan
- Jordan
- South Korea
- Australia
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
CAF
- Morocco
- Tunisia
- Egypt
- Algeria
- Ghana
- Cape Verde
- South Africa
- Ivory Coast
- Senegal
CONCACAF
- TBC
CONMEBOL
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Ecuador
- Uruguay
- Paraguay
- Colombia
OFC
- New Zealand
UEFA
- England
Play-offs
- Bolivia
- New Caledonia
What are chances of qualification for Home Nations?
England sealed qualification for the 2026 tournament with a 5-0 win over Latvia, continuing their spotless record of six wins, 18 goals scored and zero conceded.
Scotland are best-placed to join them, as the only other Home Nation currently sitting in a top-two spot in their qualification group.
Steve Clarke's side are guaranteed at least a UEFA play-off spot, as they hold a seven-point lead over third-placed Greece in Group C and could qualify directly should they pick up more points than leaders Denmark in their final two fixtures.
The two teams - who are level on 10 points, but with Denmark holding a better goal difference by six - meet at Hampden Park on November 18.
Wales have a decisive fixture of their own on the same day, hosting second-placed North Macedonia at Cardiff City Stadium.
The would-be World Cup debutants have a three-point lead over the Welsh and boast a better goal difference, though Craig Bellamy's side have a game in hand - a trip to Liechtenstein on November 15.
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Wales could still technically finish top of their group, though leaders Belgium would need to drop points in their remaining two games, against already-eliminated Liechtenstein and Kazakhstan.
But even if Cymru finish outside the top two, they are all-but assured of a place in the 16-team European play-offs given they won their UEFA Nations League group in 2024.
However, Wales would face a tougher draw in the play-offs should they participate via the Nations League, being drawn in pot four and needing to visit a top seed in their one-legged semi-final.
Northern Ireland also have a chance to qualify for the UEFA play-offs by virtue of Nations League success, though they require several other teams to secure a top-two qualification finish.
They could yet complete that feat themselves, with a crunch match against second-place Slovakia coming up on November 14.
Slovakia are three points clear of Northern Ireland, but travel to Germany for their final group stage match on November 17, while Michael O'Neill's team host Luxembourg, who are yet to pick up a point, on the same night.
How many teams will qualify for the 2026 World Cup?
This is the first World Cup that will see 48 teams qualify for the tournament after FIFA's proposal to expand the competition was approved.
Three teams will qualify directly as hosts, a further 43 teams will qualify directly, and then two more will come from the inter-confederation play-offs.
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When does the 2026 World Cup start?
The 2026 World Cup gets started on June 11, with the opening game played in Mexico City.
The final takes place on July 19 and will be held at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
How many slots does each confederation get for the 2026 World Cup?
- AFC: eight direct slots and one play-off slot.
- CAF: nine direct slots and one play-off slot.
- CONCACAF: three direct slots, three host slots and two play-off slots.
- CONMEBOL: six direct slots and one play-off slot.
- OFC: one direct slot and one play-off slot.
- UEFA: 16 direct slots and zero play-off slots.
How do the inter-confederation play-offs work?
The six play-off teams are ranked according to their FIFA World Ranking, and the top two will go directly to one final each.
The four lowest-ranked teams will be drawn and face off to determine who goes through to Final A and Final B to face one of the two highest seeds.
The winners of Final A and Final B will each qualify for the finals.
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