Road to World Cup 2026: Confirmed teams and key tournament details

The three host nations qualify automatically, while nations from the confederations of UEFA (Europe), CONMEBOL (South America), CONCACAF (North/Central America and Caribbean), AFC (Asia), OFC (Oceania) and CAF (Africa) stage their own qualifying campaigns.

 

UEFA is guaranteed 16 slots at the tournament. Twelve group winners will progress directly from the qualifying stage, with Thomas Tuchel's England aiming to top Group K. Sixteen teams - 12 group runners-up and four further teams based on their Nations League ranking - will enter four play-off paths, with each providing a further spot at the finals.

Outside of Europe, CAF gets nine spots at the World Cup and AFC has eight. There will be a minimum of six each from CONMEBOL and CONCACAF, while OFC has one guaranteed slot for the first time.

Two final slots will be filled through an inter-confederation play-off. A tournament involving six teams will take place in March 2026: one team per confederation apart from UEFA, plus one additional team from the confederation of the host countries.

Keep track below of who has reached the showpiece tournament.

 

Who has qualified for the 2026 World Cup?

 

Host nations

• USA
• Canada
• Mexico

Asia

• Australia
• Iran
• Japan
• Jordan
• South Korea
• Uzbekistan

Oceania

• New Zealand

South America

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

Africa

• Morocco
• Tunisia

Europe

To be confirmed

 

When is the 2026 World Cup draw?

 

The draw for the 2026 World Cup will take place in Washington on December 5.

President Trump will join FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the John F Kennedy Center - a performing arts venue where Trump is chairman - to decide the group stage fixtures.

Announcing the draw venue at the White House in August, Trump said the World Cup was "the biggest event in sports", while Infantino declared the 104 matches would be like "104 Super Bowls".

The draw will take place from 12pm local time (5pm UK time).

 

World Cup 2026 match schedule

 

The full fixture list with group games and kick-off times will be available after the draw but FIFA has already announced key dates and confirmed that the opening match will be held in Mexico City.

The final will take place at the New York New Jersey (MetLife) Stadium - home of the New York Giants and New York Jets.

Group stage: June 11-27

Round of 32: June 28 to July 3

Round of 16: July 4-7

Quarter-finals: July 9-11

Semi-finals: July 14-15

Third-place play-off ('Bronze final'): July 18

Final: July 19