The Fifa 2026 World Cup, which will be hosted by USA, Mexico and Canada, will for the first time see 48 teams competing for the title. So far, 28 teams have booked their berths in the mega event. Who all have already qualified? Which teams have earned playoffs rights? The Telegraph dribbles through the complicated process to sketch the current qualification scenario.
AFRICA (CAF)
Berths: 9 direct Playoffs: 1 team will go into inter-confederation playoffs
Qualification process: A total of 54 teams were divided into nine groups of six teams each. One group had five teams as Eritrea withdrew. Group winners gain direct qualification, while four best runners-up teams fight for the lone playoff berth.
Current status: Direct qualification completed.
Qualified teams: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Senegal
Playoff team: To identify the one team that will go to the inter-confederation playoffs, the four best group runners-up sides — Nigeria, Gabon, Cameroon, DR Congo — will play among themselves.
ASIA (AFC)
Berths: 8 direct Playoffs: 1 team will go into inter-confederation playoffs
Qualification process: A four-phase process. In Round 1 20 lowest-ranked teams played among themselves, from which 10 advanced to the next round. In Round 2, these 10 teams joined the 26-best ranked teams. So 36 teams were divided into nine groups of four each. The top two from each group in Round 2 progressed to Round 3. In Round 3, 18 teams were drawn into three groups of six each. The group winners and runners-up — that is a total of six teams — gained direct qualification. In Round 4, the next six best teams from the remaining lot of Round 3 were divided into two groups, with the group winners gaining the remaining two direct spots. The two runners-up teams from these two groups will fight it out to decide who goes into the inter-confederation playoffs.
Current status: Direct qualification completed.
Qualified teams: Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Playoff team: The UAE will play Iraq to identify which team will go to the inter-confederation playoffs.
EUROPE (UEFA)
Berths: 12 direct
Playoffs: 4 teams will get Cup tickets from inter-Uefa playoffs
Qualification process: A total of 54 teams were divided into 12 groups of four or five teams. Group winners gain direct qualification, while the 12 runners-up teams enter the playoffs.
Current status: Incomplete.
Qualified team: England
Playoff teams: The European teams will not play the inter-confederation playoffs, instead the final four berths from the continent will be decided via the inter-Uefa playoffs. This will involve a total of 16 teams — 12 group stage runners-up teams + four best-ranked group winners from the Uefa Nations League (only teams that did not finish in the top two in World Cup qualifying).
NORTH AMERICA, CENTRAL AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN (Concacaf)
Berths: 3 direct
Playoffs: 2 teams will go into inter-confederation playoffs
Qualification process: Three teams — USA, Canada, Mexico — from the Concacaf region have guaranteed berths as hosts. Three more teams will gain direct spots at the 2026 Cup. Like for Asia, Concacaf also has a layered qualification process. A total of 32 teams are vying for the three direct spots. After Round 1 and Round 2, 12 teams have moved into Round 3, where they have been drawn into three groups of four each. The group winners will qualify for the World Cup, and the two best runners-up teams will go into the inter-confederation playoffs.
Current status: Incomplete. Bermuda, Costa Rica, Curaçao, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago are the 12 teams who are playing in Round 3 of qualification.
Qualified teams: USA, Canada, Mexico (all three as hosts)
Playoff teams: Yet to be decided.
SOUTH AMERICA (Conmebol)
Berths: 6 direct
Playoffs: 1 team will go into inter-confederation playoffs
Qualification process: Ten teams played each other home and away, with the top six gaining direct qualification. The seventh-placed team will play in the inter-confederation playoffs.
Current status: Direct qualification completed.
Qualified teams: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay
Playoff team: Bolivia, the seventh-placed team in the qualification, will go to the inter-confederation playoffs.
OCEANIA (OFC)
Berths: 1 direct
Playoffs: 1 team will go into inter-confederation playoffs
Qualification process: A total of 11 teams took part in a three-phase qualification process. Round 3 featured four teams in a one-legged knockout format (two semi-finals and a final), from where the winner gained direct qualification while the runners-up will play in the inter-confederation playoffs, in New Zealand in March 2025.
Current status: Direct qualification completed.
Qualified team: New Zealand
Playoff team: New Caledonia will go to the inter-confederation playoffs.
Cape Verde, an archipelago off the western coast of Africa, are first-time qualifiers.
INTERCONFEDERATION PLAYOFFS
Six teams — one each from Africa, Asia, Oceania, South America and two from Concacaf (hosts) — will compete to decide the final two spots at the Cup.
The playoffs will be held in March 2026. The venue is yet to be finalised, but it will be held in one of the host nations of the 2026 Cup.
