Who has qualified for 2026 World Cup? Scotland are back, Italy block path for Wales and N Ireland
You know what’ll be here before we know it? The World Cup. With England and Scotland now definitely in it, while Wales, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland all still have a chance.
The 2026 World Cup is a) somehow less than seven months away and b) absolutely bloody massive. Some might suggest it is, if anything, Clive, almost too massive. As you no doubt know by now there are a frankly unwieldy 48 teams heading to USA, Canada and Mexico next summer and that means the various qualification processes across FIFA’s six continental confederations all looked a bit different this time.
All apart from CONMEBOL, of course, who remained rightly and righteously wedded to their lovely neat 10-team league. It is, admittedly, an option not really open to any of the other confederations.
We’re almost there in terms of final numbers now, with only the UEFA play-offs and the inter-confederation play-offs still to go. Find out what those things and more are in our round-up of who’s qualified and who still should/could/might.
Four of the confirmed qualifiers are heading to the World Cup finals for the first time in their history.
The 42 teams so far who have qualified for the 2026 World Cup:
USA (hosts)
Mexico (hosts)
Canada (hosts)
Panama (CONCACAF)
Haiti (CONCACAF)
Curacao (CONCACAF)
England (UEFA)
France (UEFA)
Croatia (UEFA)
Portugal (UEFA)
Norway (UEFA)
Germany (UEFA)
Netherlands (UEFA)
Belgium (UEFA)
Austria (UEFA)
Switzerland (UEFA)
Spain (UEFA)
Scotland (UEFA)
Morocco (CAF)
Tunisia (CAF)
Egypt (CAF)
Algeria (CAF)
Ghana (CAF)
Cape Verde (CAF)
South Africa (CAF)
Ivory Coast (CAF)
Senegal (CAF)
Japan (AFC)
Iran (AFC)
Uzbekistan (AFC)
South Korea (AFC)
Jordan (AFC)
Australia (AFC)
Qatar (AFC)
Saudi Arabia (AFC)
Argentina (CONMEBOL)
Ecuador (CONMEBOL)
Brazil (CONMEBOL)
Uruguay (CONMEBOL)
Colombia (CONMEBOL)
Paraguay (CONMEBOL)
New Zealand (OFC)
Where the 6 remaining 2026 World Cup qualifiers will come from
4 from UEFA play-offs
2 from Inter-confederation play-offs
2026 World Cup qualification: UEFA (Europe)
Total teams: 54
Total 2026 World Cup spots: 16
Already qualified: England, France, Croatia, Portugal, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Scotland
Can still qualify: Albania, Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy, Ukraine, Romania, Sweden, Northern Ireland, North Macedonia, Wales, Slovakia, Poland, Turkey, Kosovo, Denmark, Bosnia
The main group stage of UEFA’s qualification was one of the last to get fully up and running but the main group stage that settled three-quarters of Europe’s total World Cup spots is now done.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. The 54 were been split into 12 qualifying groups, half with five teams and half with four. The four teams who made it to the last four of the Nations League are all in late-starting four-team groups so they could conclude that Nations League hooplah, while the five-team groups could have no more than one team involved in Nations League title/promotion/relegation palaver, who sat out the first round of games and only got involved in June.
Everyone else in the five-team groups kicked off back in March.
The 12 group winners have all qualified directly for the World Cup, with the 12 runners-up plus the four highest-ranking Nations League group winners who finished outside the top two in their groups now setting off down four play-off routes to settle the four remaining places.
Northern Ireland are won of the beneficiaries of that Nations League safety net, getting through to the play-offs on the back of winning their League C group there despite finishing third in their qualifying group this time around
One general thing to note is that UEFA are pound-for-pound the smallest ‘winner’ from the World Cup’s expansion having gained only three spots from 2022’s 13. Unlike everywhere else, it isn’t conspicuously easier to qualify now than it was before. UEFA is also the only confederation that won’t be represented at the inter-confederation play-offs.
The play-offs:
The 16 teams to reach the play-offs were split into four pots – two seeded, two unseeded – based on the latest FIFA rankings and drawn into four qualification pathways each featuring a Pot 1 v Pot 4 semi-final and a Pot 2 v Pot 3 semi-final, and then a final. The seeded teams host the semi-finals, and in each pathway there was a free draw to determine which semi-final will produce the host for the final.
The semi-finals will be played on March 26, and the finals on March 31.
That draw is as follows:
Pathway 1:
Italy v Northern Ireland
Wales v Bosnia
Wales/Bosnia will host the final
Pathway 2:
Ukraine v Sweden
Poland v Albania
Ukraine/Sweden will host the final (Ukraine are currently required to host games on neutral territory, and played all their home group games in Poland. So there is a very decent chance here of Ukraine hosting a home play-off final against Poland in Poland.)
Pathway 3:
Turkey v Romania
Slovakia v Kosovo
Slovakia/Kosovo will host the final.
Pathway 4:
Denmark v North Macedonia
Czech Republic v Republic of Ireland
Czech Republic/Republic of Ireland will host the final
One final significant point is that the four play-off winners have already been allocated placeholder pot-four spots in December’s main draw, as their identities will not be known at that time.
Given we’re potentially talking about your Italys and Denmarks, they could well become Group of Death opposition for someone, and every team involved will know which specific World Cup group they’re chasing a spot in by the time the UEFA play-offs take place.
One further and quite bleak footnote here. In order to fulfil TV contracts, the losing semi-finalists in each pathway will play friendlies against each other in fixtures that will make your standard third-place play-off look like a joyful celebration of the beautiful game.
Direct qualifiers:
England were the first European team to confirm their spot after sauntering through a desperately weak Group K in textbook can-only-beat-what’s-in-front-of-you fashion.
All the remaining home nations and Ireland are, at worst, heading for the play-offs. Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland are both definitely in – Northern Ireland via the Nations League route – while Wales and Scotland are at least in the play-offs but could yet qualify directly.
France and Croatia, who met in the 2018 final, are confirmed group-winning qualifiers for next summer.
Norway had to wait until the very final game of their group despite a flawless record to mathematically confirm their status as group winners, securing their first appearance in the World Cup this century and condemning Italy to the play-offs.
Portugal could have qualified back in October but conceded a late equaliser to Hungary and then suffered a 2-0 loss to Ireland at the start of the November break to take things nervily to the final game. They are now safely through, though, after crushing eliminated Armenia.
Ireland – after a terrible start to the qualification process – have pulled off a stunning late escape by beating Portugal at home and Hungary away with two late goals to grab an unlikely spot in the March play-offs.
Netherlands were already pretty much there before the final game but rubberstamped it by thrashing Lithuania 4-0, with Poland’s win over Malta in vain.
Germany haven’t always been convincing in this qualifying campaign, but they finished with a flourish by thrashing second-placed Slovakia 6-0 on the final day to confirm their place next summer. It’s the play-offs for Slovakia.
Spain, Switzerland and Belgium all had to wait until the final whistle of the final game to mathematically confirm they would top their groups but all knew that they had already done enough.
The most dramatic conclusion came in Group C, where Scotland struck two late, late goals against 10-man Denmark to seal a 4-2 win and snatch top spot away from the Danes and secure a first World Cup tournament place this century.
READ: Who are the current favourites for the 2026 World Cup?
2026 World Cup qualification: Inter-confederation play-offs
Can still qualify: New Caledonia (OFC), Bolivia (CONMEBOL), DR Congo (CAF), Iraq (AFC), Jamaica (CONCACAF), Suriname (CONCACAF)
Total 2026 World Cup spots: 2
How it works:
It’s a quick-fire tournament taking place in Mexico next March with everything at stake. As the two highest ranked teams in the play-offs, DR Congo and Iraq are already in the two finals.
In the first pathway, New Caledonia will face Jamaica for the right to meet DR Congo in the final.
In the second, Bolivia face Suriname with the winner then playing Iraq.
The winners of those two finals will be off to the World Cup.
The two semi-finals and two finals are both one-off affairs. No two-legged action here. And by the time this short, sharp mini-tournament takes place everyone involved will know exactly what they’re playing for because by that time a placeholder for the winner of each of the two pathways will already have been allocated its place in the main draw.
2026 World Cup qualification: CAF (Africa)
Total countries: 53
Total 2026 World Cup spots: 9 + 1 inter-confederation play-off
Qualified: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Senegal
Qualified for inter-confederation play-offs: DR Congo
Jumping from five qualifiers for 2022 to nine (and a half) for 2026 has required a reworking of the African qualifying format.
There were initially nine groups of six, with each group winner going to the World Cup, and the four best runners-up heading for play-offs consisting of straight semi-finals and then a final in Morocco in November to secure Africa’s one spot in the last-chance-saloon inter-confederation play-offs (about which more later) that take place next March.
That runner-up ranking bit has been rendered distinctly messy by the fact Group E now contains only four teams rather than six following Congo’s suspension and Eritrea’s withdrawal.
The competing nations have apparently been informed that results against the sixth-placed team in each group will be discounted from the runners-up rankings to level the playing field somewhat.
The main group stage is now complete. 2022 World Cup semi-finalists Morocco were the first to seal their place at next summer’s tournament, with Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria and Ghana all also now confirmed as group winners.
The biggest story, though, came from Group D, where Cape Verde stunned Cameroon to take top spot and qualify for their first ever World Cup. Iceland are the only smaller country, in population terms, to ever reach the finals.
South Africa survived a punishment for fielding an ineligible player, turning a 2-0 win over Lesotho into a 3-0 forfeit, to nevertheless pip Nigeria and Benin to win Group C.
Senegal and Ivory Coast grabbed the last two direct qualification spots by confirming their group wins on the final matchday.
DR Congo will be Africa’s representative at March’s last-chance inter-confederation play-offs, where six teams from around the world will meet for the final two World Cup spots after they beat Nigeria on penalties in a play-off tournament also featuring Gabon and Cameroon.
2026 World Cup qualification: AFC (Asia)
Total countries: 46
Total 2026 World Cup spots: 8 + 1 inter-confederation play-off
Qualified: Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Qualified for inter-confederation play-off: Iraq
It’s been a long old process, and we’ve now got through four of the five stages. Luckily it all got under way right back in October 2023. For very obvious reasons.
The third round was the big one, generating six qualifiers from three six-team groups after a full double-round-robin.
Iran and first-time qualifiers Uzbekistan came through Group A.
South Korea and Jordan – another first-time qualifier – are through from Group B.
Japan dominated Group C and will be joined in North America next summer by Australia.
The fourth round saw the six teams who finished third and fourth in those three groups split into two groups of three for a quick-fire single round-robin tournament in October that confirmed the final two direct qualifiers. Qatar and Saudi Arabia won those groups.
The second-place teams in those groups then played off over two-legs for Asia’s spot in the inter-confederation play-offs, with Iraq beating UAE 3-2 on aggregate.
2026 World Cup qualification: CONCACAF (North America, Central America and Caribbean)
Total countries: 32 (plus USA, Mexico and Canada)
Total 2026 World Cup spots: 6 + 2 inter-confederation play-offs
Qualified: USA, Mexico and Canada, Panama, Haiti, Curacao
Qualified for inter-confederation play-offs: Jamaica, Suriname
Six direct qualification spots plus a double helping of play-off action sounds very exciting, but you do have to remember half of those six direct spots have already been claimed by the hosts.
Nevertheless, the removal from the qualification process of the two traditional CONCACAF powerhouses in USA and Mexico in particular still offered all kinds of chances for all kinds of teams.
With the hosts accounted for and a couple of play-offs eliminating the lowest-ranked teams, the remaining 30 CONCACAF members were split into six groups of five for a single round-robin (i.e. two home games, two away) with the top two from each of those groups going to the final stage where the remaining 12 teams are now in three groups of four.
Those groups played out a full home-and-away round-robin across the September, October and November international breaks with the three group winners Panama, Haiti and Curacao off to the World Cup, and the best two runners-up – Jamaica and Suriname – heading to the intercontinental play-offs.
Honduras were an unlucky runner-up, missing out on the play-offs on goals scored. Costa Rica are another high-profile absentee after finishing third in their group behind Haiti and Honduras.
2026 World Cup qualification: CONMEBOL (South America)
Total countries: 10
Total 2026 World Cup spots: 6 + 1 inter-confederation play-off
Qualified: Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay
Qualified for inter-confederation play-offs: Bolivia
South American qualifying has always possessed a pleasing straightforwardness, and the expansion of the finals had no real impact on this beyond further diluting what little jeopardy exists for the stronger nations.
It remained a clean and simple 10-team league, with everyone playing everyone else home and away. Just now with over half of those teams earning a direct path to the finals, and the team in seventh heading to the intercontinental play-offs where they should have a very good chance of success anyway.
Holders Argentina secured qualification with time to spare and finished up a whopping nine points clear at the top. They were followed home by Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay, those five teams ending up separated by a single point and all safely through.
Venezuela had looked set for the play-off spot across much of the campaign, but missed out at the very last to Bolivia after a wild 6-3 defeat to Colombia in their final game.
Even that result left Bolivia still needing to beat Brazil in their own final game, which they did. Peru and Chile had terrible campaigns, winning just two games apiece and finishing well adrift of the rest.
2026 World Cup qualification: OFC (Oceania)
Total countries: 11
Total 2026 World Cup spots: 1 + 1 inter-confederation play-off
Qualified: New Zealand
Qualified for inter-confederation play-offs: New Caledonia
The ins and outs don’t really matter now, with the OFC qualification campaign boxed off and squared away before some teams in other parts of the world had even begun.
Suffice to say it ended entirely unsurprisingly with New Zealand – very much the dominant force in the post-Australia OFC and thus one of the biggest long-term winners to emerge from the 48-team expansion – securing the confederation’s first ever direct-qualification World Cup spot with a 3-0 win over New Caledonia, who still have the chance to do a madness in the inter-confederation play-offs.