The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Qualification is still ongoing across Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America, with the final two spots to be decided via the inter-confederation play-off tournament in March 2026.

Flashscore will keep you updated on all nations that have already secured their place in the North American tournament.

Host Nations

• USA
• Canada
• Mexico

Europe (16 direct berths)

• Austria
• Belgium
• Croatia
• England
• France
• Germany
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Portugal
• Scotland
• Spain
• Switzerland

European Play-Off Contenders: Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales

South America (6 direct berths + 1 play-off spot)

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Ecuador
• Colombia
• Paraguay
• Uruguay

FIFA Play-Off Tournament: Bolivia

The top six from CONMEBOL qualify directly, with the seventh-placed team entering the inter-confederation play-off.

North & Central America (3 direct berths + 2 play-off spots)

• Panama
• Curaçao (making their World Cup debut)
• Haiti

FIFA Play-Off Tournament: Jamaica, Suriname

Africa (9 direct berths + 1 play-off spot)

• Morocco
• Tunisia
• Egypt
• Algeria
• Ghana
• Cape Verde
• South Africa
• Ivory Coast
• Senegal

FIFA Play-Off Tournament: DR Congo

Asia (8 direct berths + 1 play-off spot)

• Australia
• Japan
• Jordan
• Iran
• South Korea
• Uzbekistan
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia

FIFA Play-Off Tournament: Iraq

Oceania (1 direct berth + 1 play-off spot)

• New Zealand

FIFA Play-Off Tournament: New Caledonia

Play-Offs: Format and Draw Dates

The draws for the FIFA Play-Off Tournament and European Play-Offs will take place on Thursday, November 20th, 2025.

FIFA Play-Off Tournament:

• Features two finals, with semi-final winners facing seeded teams.
• The two winners secure spots at the 2026 World Cup.

European Play-Offs:

• Includes 12 group runners-up and the four best-ranked UEFA Nations League section winners.
• 16 teams are drawn into four paths, each with four teams.
• Matches are single-leg semi-finals followed by single-leg finals to determine Europe’s final four qualifiers.