The 2026 World Cup will take place in 3 countries - the US, Canada and Mexico - from June 11 to July 19. This will be the biggest tournament ever, with 48 participating countries - 16 more than Qatar in 2022.
The three host countries will automatically qualify for the final round, while teams from UEFA ( Europe), CONMEBOL (South America), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), AFC (Asia), CAF (Asia) and OFC (osean) will compete through separate qualifying campaigns to win the remaining tickets.
UEFA is allocated 16 places to participate in the 2026 World Cup. In which, the 12 teams that win the group in the qualifying round will win tickets directly. The remaining 16 teams - including 12 second-placed teams and 4 teams with high achievements in the Nations League - will participate in the play-off round. This round is divided into 4 branches, each branch determines a place to participate in the final round.
Outside Europe, the CAF has nine tickets, the AFC has eight, while CONMEBOL and CONCACAF each have at least six tickets. Notably, the OFC was guaranteed an official spot at the World Cup for the first time.
The final two spots will be determined through the intercontinental play-off round, taking place in March 2026.
This phase will have 6 participating teams - each federation (except UEFA) will send a representative, along with an additional team from the host countries. The teams will compete for the last two tickets to the 2026 World Cup finals.
Updated list of teams that are eligible to participate in the 2026 World Cup finals:
1. US
2. Canada
3. Mexico
4. Australia
5. Iran
6. Japan
7. Jordan
8. South Korea
9. Uzbekistan
10. New Zealand
11. Argentina
12. Brazil
13. Ecuador
14. Uruguay
15. Colombia
16. Paraguay
17. Morocco
18. Cambodia
19. Egypt
20. Algeria
