With an expanded 48 teams in the World Cup for 2026, and games played over three countries, it is not easy to keep track of who has qualified around the world for the big event in North America next summer.
Forty-two teams have qualified for the tournament so far, with the 12 group winners in Uefa being joined by countries from Africa, North and South America, Asia and Oceania. There are only six places up for grabs in playoffs. Four will be through Uefa, which you may be familiar with and involves Ireland, while two will be through interconfederation playoffs involving other continents.
Here are all the teams that have qualified for the World Cup so far:
AFC (Asian Confederation):
- Australia
- Iran
- Japan
- Jordan
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- South Korea
- Uzbekistan
Jordan and Uzbekistan make their debuts in the tournament. They may yet be joined by Iraq, who are seeded for an interconfederation playoff, the draw for that takes place on Thursday.
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Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Japan and Australia qualified by finishing in the top two in six-team groups. The teams that finished third and fourth went into two more groups of three, where the winner qualified. Qatar and Saudi Arabia got through that. Iraq got a third chance in an Asian playoff against United Arab Emirates, winning 3-2 on aggregate, and are through to the playoff.
CAF (African confederation):
- Algeria
- Cape Verde
- Egypt
- Ghana
- Ivory Coast
- Morocco
- Senegal
- South Africa
- Tunisia
Cape Verde, the nation of Shamrock Rovers player Roberto ‘Pico’ Lopes, are debutants at the World Cup. Africa was divided into nine groups of six (aside from one of five as Eritrea withdrew), with the group winners qualifying. The four best-placed second-place teams went through to an African playoff, where DR Congo took the scalp of Cameroon and Nigeria to get the interconfederation playoff spot.
CONCACAF (North American confederation):
- Canada (co-host)
- Curacao
- Haiti
- Mexico (co-host)
- Panama
- United States (co-host)
With three big hitters having already qualified as hosts, the chance opened up for three smaller nations in North America, with a fourth having a chance through interconfederation playoffs. Two teams progressed through groups of five in the first round, then the three group winners of Curacao, Haiti and Panama qualified in four team groups. The best-ranked second-place team Jamaica has qualified for a playoff.
COMMEBOL (South American confederation):
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Paraguay
- Uruguay
Previously a minefield and one of the most difficult to qualify from, South American qualifying has been diluted slightly by six teams instead of four qualifying automatically out of 10, and a seventh getting through to the interconfederation playoffs. Holders Argentina impressively topped the group, Brazil were less impressive in finishing fifth, which cost Dorival his job as manager, as Carlo Ancelotti comes in. Bolivia got that seventh spot for a playoff despite losing 10 of their 18 games.
OFC (Oceania confederation):
- New Zealand
New Zealand are the major benefactors of the expanded World Cup, with an automatic spot in a weak confederation that no longer includes Australia (who left for Asia). To show how comfortable it was for the Kiwis, they scored 29 goals in qualifying, conceding one. New Caledonia also get a chance through the interconfederation playoffs.
Uefa (European confederation):
- Austria
- Belgium
- Croatia
- England
- France
- Germany
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Portugal
- Scotland
- Spain
- Switzerland
Twelve group winners from groups of four or five teams automatically qualify. Then it gets more complicated, with 12 runners-up (including the Republic of Ireland) and four teams who qualified from the Nations League, with have playoffs in March to decide four more places. You can read more about that here.
