Who has qualified for FIFA World Cup 2026? Updated list of nations confirmed for tournament in USA, Canada and Mexico

The next FIFA World Cup is less than two years away, with the United States, Canada and Mexico poised to host the 23rd edition in 2026.

Lionel Messi completed his long and occasionally tortuous path to glory with Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. La Albiceleste have since retained their Copa America title and are leading the way in CONMEBOL qualifying for the next World Cup.

The 2026 tournament will be the first time 48 teams have competed at the World Cup finals, expanding from the 32-team format that was used at seven consecutive tournaments from 1998 to 2022.

That means the equation has changed for teams looking to qualify from the six regional confederations — AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC and UEFA. So what does the road to the 2026 World Cup look like?

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Who has qualified for FIFA World Cup 2026?

Each confederation has more slots available under the expanded format. The AFC has double the qualification spots it had at Qatar 2022, up from four guaranteed places to eight, while there will be nine African nations instead of five.

CONCACAF will have at least double its 2022 representatives, up from three to six, although half of those slots are accounted for by the United States, Mexico and Canada qualifying automatically as hosts. As was the case at the previous World Cup, two slots will be decided via an inter-continental playoff.

Teams qualified for the 2026 World Cup

How does qualification work for 2026 World Cup?

AFC

The AFC began its crucial third round of qualification in September 2024. Eighteen teams were split across three six-team groups to contest 10 games in a round-robin format. The top two in each of Group A, B and C qualify automatically for the World Cup.

The teams placed third and fourth in each group will advance to a fourth round that is split between two groups of three, with each team to face each of the opponents in its group once in October 2025. The two group winners will progress directly to the World Cup, with the runners-up contesting a two-leg playoff in November 2025 to decide which AFC representative will advance to the intercontinental playoff.

CAF

Nine groups of six teams play each other home and away in Africa. The winner of each section at the end of the 10 games progresses directly to the World Cup.

The four best runners-up from the initial round-robin phase enter into a playoff, with the winner going forward to the intercontinental playoff as CAF's representative.

CONCACAF

CONCACAF began the second round of its qualification phase in June 2024, with 30 teams drawn into six groups of five. Each team will play every opponent in their group once, with two away games and two home games once the phase concludes in June 2025.

The top two in each group advance to the 12-team third round, where there will be three groups of four. Beginning in September 2025, the nations in each group will play one another home and away. The three group winners advance to the World Cup, with the two best-ranked runners-up going into the intercontinental playoff.

CONMEBOL

South America has retained its celebrated marathon World Cup qualification round, with all 10 of the confederation's countries playing one another home and away in a gruelling league format.

The expanded World Cup means qualification is a little easier, with the top six advancing automatically and the seventh-placed team entering the intercontinental playoff, probably as favourite.

OFC

The 2026 World Cup is the first time the OFC has been guaranteed a representative at the finals. The second round, running across October and November 2024, sees two groups of four playing for the four spots in round three.

The top two in each round-two group advance to a three-match playoff in March 2025. The winners qualify for the World Cup, with an intercontinental playoff place the consolation for the defeated finalist.

UEFA

Twelve of UEFA's 16 spots will be taken by the group winners from the initial format of four or five-team groups. The 12 runners-up, along with the four best UEFA Nations League group winners that finished outside of the top two in their World Cup qualifying groups, enter the playoffs.

Those 16 teams will be drawn into four paths with two single-game rounds. The seeded teams will be at home in the semifinals, with a home nation for the four finals to be drawn prior to the match. The winners from each path advance to the World Cup. UEFA is the only confederation without a representative in the inter-continental playoff.

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Inter-continental playoff

The two teams in the six-nation playoff with the highest FIFA ranking will be seeded. The four unseeded teams play an effective semifinal, with the two winners progressing to face a seed apiece to decide the final two places at the World Cup.

The four-game playoff will be used as a World Cup test event and played in one or more of the host countries.

When is the 2026 FIFA World Cup?

The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 11 , with co-hosts Mexico in action at the Azteca, which hosted the 1970 and 1986 World Cup finals.

MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, will host the final on July 19 . The overall span of 40 days will make this the longest World Cup in history, with the 48 finalists contesting a total of 104 matches.

When is the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup?

The date for the 2026 FIFA World Cup draw is yet to be confirmed. However, with the tournament back in its traditional June-July slot, expect the draw to take place in late 2025.