Ready for the world’s biggest sporting event? The countdown is on for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Spread across the countries (Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.), 48 teams will take part in the largest edition of the tournament ever next summer
Teams are back in qualifying action in September across the globe. Which teams are already in and which ones are close to booking their spot?
When is the World Cup?
The World Cup will run from June 11–July 19, 2026. Spread across three countries, the tournament will culminate with the final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The FOX family of networks and the FOX Sports app are your complete home for World Cup content, including live matches, complete highlights, commentary and analysis, and full-match replays.
What we know:
- 48 teams will participate in the World Cup;
- 46 of those will qualify directly; the other two will be via the six-team intercontinental playoff;
- Three co-host teams — Canada, Mexico, United States — are in;
- Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay are all in after qualifying through the South American (CONMEBOL) confederation;
- Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea and Uzbekistan are in after qualifying through the Asian (AFC) confederation;
- Morocco and Tunisia is in after qualifying through the African (CAF) confederation;
- New Zealand is in after qualifying through the Oceania (OFC) confederation;
- Australia (7 appearances)
- Argentina (19 appearances)
- Brazil (23 appearances)
- Canada (3 appearances)
- Colombia (6 appearances)
- Ecuador (5 appearances)
- Iran (7 appearances)
- Japan (8 appearances)
- Jordan (will make debut in 2026)
- Mexico (18 appearances)
- Morocco (7 appearances)
- New Zealand (3 appearances)
- Paraguay (8 appearances)
- South Korea (12 appearances)
- Tunisia (7 appearances)
- Uruguay (14 appearances)
- United States (12 appearances)
- Uzbekistan (will make debut in 2026)
- 1 Africa (TBD)
- 1 Asia (TBD)
- 2 North and Central America/Caribbean (TBD)
- 1 Oceania (New Caledonia)
- 1 South America (TBD)
View the kick -off of it one year to go the FIFA World Cup 2026 ceremony!
Region-by-region breakdown:
AFC (Asia)
How many world cup teams can qualify?
8 automatically comes 1 in the Intercontinental Playoff -Ronde
Who’s there?
Australia, Iran, Jordan, Japan, South Korea, Uzbekistan
What has happened so far?
The qualification tournament in Asia started in October 2023 with 46 teams that participated. After three qualifying rounds, six teams have booked World Cup spots, with two more direct places up (and one play -off berth) for grabbing.
Round 4 consists of six teams (the teams of the third and fourth placed from round 3) and split into two groups. Those group winners continue to the World Cup. These games will be played in October.
| Group A | P | W | D | L | Pts | Oman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Qatar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | UAE | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Group B | P | W | D | L | Pts | Indonesia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Iraq | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Saudi Arabia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Second place plays each other in round 5, with the winner Than On the way to the intercontinental play -off.
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Caf (Africa)
How many world cup teams can qualify?
9 automatically comes 1 in the intercontinental play -off round
Who’s there?
Morocco, Tunisia
What has happened so far?
The qualifying process is reflected in September. There are 54 teams (now reduced to 52) split into nine groups of six teams each.
The nine group winners will go directly to the World Cup and the four best second place teams will fight for an intercontinental play-off place. Halfway through the qualification phase there are many top teams that have control over their respective groups.
Morocco, the Semifinals from the World Cup 2022 World Cup, has won their group. Tunisia also booked a place. Teams such as Egypt and South Africa currently have control of their respective groups.
The only wrinkle is group E, which was won by Morocco. The group was reduced to four teams after the disqualification of Congo and Eritrea – and how that may affect who ends in second place, because it may not have enough points to be eligible for the intercontinental play -off phase.
Here are the top two teams in each group. Teams that have qualified have an asterisk . Full classificationCan be found here
| Group A | GP | W | D | L | Pts | Egypt | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 20 | Burkina Faso | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 15 |
| Group B | GP | W | D | L | Pts | Senegal | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 18 | DR Congo | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
| Group C | GP | W | D | L | Pts | South Africa | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 17 | Nigeria | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 11 |
| Group D | GP | W | D | L | Pts | Cape Verde | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 19 | Cameroon | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 15 |
| Group E | GP | W | D | L | Pts | Morocco* | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 21 | Tanzania | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 10 |
| Group F | GP | W | D | L | Pts | Ivory Coast | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 19 | Gabon | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 18 |
| Group G | GP | W | D | L | Pts | Algeria | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 19 | Uganda | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| Group H | GP | W | D | L | Pts | Tunisia* | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 21 | Namibia | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 15 |
| Group I | GP | W | D | L | Pts | Ghana | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 19 | Madagascar | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 16 |
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Concacaf (North and Central – America and the Caribbean)
How many world cup teams can qualify?
6 automatic (3 co-hosts, 3 via qualification), 2 Enter the intercontinental play-off round
Who’s there?
Canada, Mexico, United States
What has happened so far?
The three co-hosts are inside and leave three automatic places for the region. There are also two places for the intercontinental play -off to be determined. Initially 32 teams started the process, with 30 teams – six groups of five teams – that made up in the second qualifying round, which was closed in June. The top two teams of each group went on to round 3.
| Group A | GP | W | D | L | Pts | El Salvador | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Panama | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Suriname | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Guatemala | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Group B | GP | W | D | L | Pts | Jamaica | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Curaçao | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Trin. and Tob. | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Bermuda | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Group C | GP | W | D | L | Pts | Costa Rica | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Nicaragua | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Haiti | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Honduras | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
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USMNT -Manager Mauricio Pochettino wants to bring the United States World Cup Glory in 2026 | Fox football
USMNT -Manager Mauricio Pochettino sat down with Tom Rinaldi to discuss that he will be a manager of the USMNT, hopes FIFA World Cup & More on 2026.
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Conmebol (South America)
How many world cup teams can qualify?
6 automatically comes 1 in the Intercontinental Playoff -Ronde
Who’s there?
Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, Paraguay
What has happened so far?
Six teams from the 10 teams region have held, in which Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador moved the World Cup. Uruguay, Paraguay and Colombia also booked their stains. Venezuela currently has a slim lead for the play -off place above Bolivia. Chile and Peru are officially eliminated. This is how the current table is. Teams that have qualified have an asterisk. Full classification
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | Pts | 1 | Argentina* | 17 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 38 | 2 | Brazil* | 17 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 28 | 3 | Uruguay* | 17 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 27 | 4 | Ecuador* | 17 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 26 | 5 | Colombia* | 17 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 25 | 6 | Paraguay* | 17 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 7 | Venezuela | 17 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 8 | Bolivia | 17 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 17 | 9 | Peru | 17 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 12 | 10 | Chile | 17 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 10 |
| Group B | P | W | D | L | Pts | Switzerland | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | Kosovo | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Sweden | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Slovenia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Group C | P | W | D | L | Pts | Denmark | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | Scotland | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | Greece | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Belarus | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Group D | P | W | D | L | Pts | France | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Iceland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Ukraine | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Azerbaijan | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Group E | P | W | D | L | Pts | Spain | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Georgia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Turkey | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Bulgaria | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Group F | P | W | D | L | Pts | Portugal | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Armenia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Hungary | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Rep. Ireland | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Group G | P | W | D | L | Pts | Netherlands | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | Poland | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | Finland | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | Lithuania | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | Malta | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Group H | P | W | D | L | Pts | Bosnia-Herz. | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | Austria | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | Romania | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | Cyprus | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | San Marino | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Group I | P | W | D | L | Pts | Norway | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | Italy | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | Israel | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | Estonia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | Moldova | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Group J | P | W | D | L | Pts | N. Macedonia | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 | Belgium | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 10 | Wales | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | Kazakhstan | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 3 | Liechtenstein | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Group K | P | W | D | L | Pts | England | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | Albania | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | Serbia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | Latvia | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | Andorra | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Group L | P | W | D | L | Pts | Croatia | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 16 | Czech Rep. | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 12 | Faroe Isl. | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | Montenegro | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | Gibraltar | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
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