The 2026 FIFA World Cup is getting a lot clearer with the news of the United States, Canada, and Mexico going ahead to co-host the largest edition in the tournament’s history. Since the number of teams will increase to 48 for the first time, the 42 of the nations have already qualified, thus six places are left.
Japan was the very first team to get the ticket for the World Cup outside the host nations as they did it way back in March. The Blue Samurai were quickly followed by New Zealand, Iran, and the titleholder Argentina. Opportunities opened up in June and six more teams made it, so in addition to South Korea, Australia, Brazil, and Ecuador, there were also Uzbekistan and Jordan, going to the World Cup for the first time.
As the September window opened, there was more action with Uruguay, Colombia, and Paraguay filling the six automatic spots of CONMEBOL. Morocco and Tunisia were the pioneering African qualifiers. Lots of confirmations by delivery led to England becoming UEFA’s first qualifiers with France next.
Seven teams have qualified from Africa: Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Ghana, South Africa, and debutants Cape Verde, while Qatar and Saudi Arabia secured their places from Asia.
In the November international break saw, Haiti, Panama, and Curaçao joined the three host nations to form CONCACAF’s six qualifiers.
Europe is still holding on to four places, as 3 times winner Italy is yet again going to the playoffs in March. DR Congo, Bolivia, New Caledonia, Iraq, and the others are still waiting for the next matches in the inter-confederation playoff routes.
At the moment, 42 teams have their spots guaranteed at the 2026 World Cup and of course, six more will be added next year.
Matches will be played in 16 stadiums spread out over the three host nations. The facilities are the Estadio Azteca, Dallas’ AT&T Stadium, and New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, among others.
The road to 2026 is getting close to the end—and one of the biggest World Cups is almost complete.
World Cup 2026: Every Country to Qualify
Host (Automatic)
United States
Mexico
Canada
Asia (AFC)
Japan
Iran
South Korea
Jordan
Australia
Uzbekistan
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Africa (CAF)
Morocco
Tunisia
Egypt
Ghana
Algeria
Cape Verde
South Africa
Ivory Coast
Senegal
South America (CONMEBOL)
Argentina
Brazil
Ecuador
Uruguay
Colombia
Paraguay
Oceania (OFC)
New Zealand
Europe (UEFA)
England
France
Croatia
Portugal
Norway
Netherlands
Germany
World Cup 2026 Stadiums: Full List
MetLife Stadium: East Rutherford, NJ
AT&T Stadium: Dallas, TX
GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium: Kansas City, Missouri
NRG Stadium: Houston, TX
Mercedes-Benz Stadium: Atlanta, GA
SoFi Stadium: Inglewood, CA
Lincoln Financial Field: Philadelphia, PA
Lumen Field: Seattle, WA
Levi’s Stadium: San Francisco, CA
Gillette Stadium: Foxborough, MA
Hard Rock Stadium: Miami, FL
BC Place: Vancouver, Canada
BMO Field: Toronto, Canada
Estadio Azteca: Mexico City, Mexico
Estadio BBVA: Monterrey, Mexico
Estadio Akron: Guadalajara, Mexico
