A total of 34 teams have confirmed their place at next summer’s FIFA World Cup.
For the first time in history, three countries – the USA, Canada and Mexico – are hosting the tournament, which has been somewhat controversially expanded.
England are one of the sides who will be heading stateside next year, with the Three Lions having breezed through qualifying with eight wins from eight.
Thomas Tuchel’s men will be joined by the usual cast of heavyweights such as France, Spain, Argentina and Brazil, whilst the likes of Uzbekistan and Cape Verde will be making their debuts on the biggest stage in football.
Let’s take a look at which teams have qualified for next summer’s World Cup, when the draw for the group stage will take place and when the play-offs to determine the finals spots will be.
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Which teams have qualified so far?
Norway will return to the World Cup after a 28-year absence, having put together a faultless qualifying campaign which saw them top Group I with maximum points ahead of Italy.
CONMEBOL qualifying saw reigning champions Argentina cruising to the top of the table, while Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil will also be at the tournament.
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt return to the finals after missing out in 2022, while Cape Verde will become the second-smallest country by population to compete at the World Cup having qualified for the very first time in their history.
South Africa, meanwhile, will play at the World Cup for the first time since hosting the tournament in 2010.
Two Asian teams will make their World Cup debuts in 2026, namely Uzbekistan and Jordan, who finished runner-up in their AFC qualifying groups.
World Cup 2026 teams
Africa:
- Algeria
- Cape Verde
- Egypt
- Ghana
- Ivory Coast
- Morocco
- Senegal
- South Africa
- Tunisia
Asia:
- Australia
- Iran
- Japan
- Jordan
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- South Korea
- Uzbekistan
Europe:
- Croatia
- England
- France
- Germany
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Portugal
North and Central America:
- Canada (co-host)
- Mexico (co-host)
- United States (co-host)
Oceania:
- New Zealand
South America:
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Paraguay
- Uruguay
How many teams will qualify in total?
Love it or loathe it, the World Cup is being expanded in 2026 from 32 to 48 teams.
16 European countries will go to the finals – the 12 that top their qualifying groups and four more through the UEFA play-offs in March.
Nine African teams will directly qualify, as well as eight from Asia, six from South America, six from North and Central America (including the hosts) and one from Oceania.
Additionally, two teams will qualify through the inter-continental play-offs, which will be held in Mexico in March. Bolivia, New Caledonia and DR Congo will be there, joined by two teams from North and Central America and one from Asia.
When are the World Cup play-offs and how do they work?
The European play-offs will see 16 teams divided into four pots.
The 12 teams who finished as runners-up in qualifying will be placed into the first three pots based on their world ranking, whilst the four Nations League group winners will be placed into the final pot.
From here, one team from each pot will be allocated into four paths: A, B, C and D.
In each path, the team in pot one will play a team in pot four in a one-legged semi-final, with teams in pot two and three contesting the other semi-final.
The winners of the four semi-finals in each path will then proceed to play each other in the pathway final, which will produce the remaining four European sides taking part in the World Cup.
The semi-finals will take place on March 26, whilst the finals will take place on March 31.
The intercontinental play-offs, meanwhile, will see six teams divided into two brackets of three sides.
Two unseeded teams in each bracket will play each other in the semi-final, with the winners advancing to play a seeded team in the final. The play-offs will take place in the March international window.
When is the World Cup draw?
The draw for the World Cup will take place on December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, though not every team will be known until after the play-offs next March.
When does the World Cup start?
The 2026 World Cup kicks off on June 11, with Mexico set to play the opening game at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
The final will take place on July 19 at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
How will the World Cup format work?
With the World Cup expanding to 48 teams, the format has been tweaked for 2026 and is now somewhat similar to the European championships.
The 48 teams will be drawn into 12 groups of four, with the top two from each group advancing to the knockout stage.
They will be joined by the eight best performing third-placed teams, with all other countries eliminated. The third-placed teams will be ranked first by points and then goal difference and goals scored.
From there, it’s a simple knockout format, as the 32 teams are whittled down to the final two. As ever, there will be a third-place play-off between the beaten semi-finalists.
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