2026 World Cup Qualifiers
18 nations have booked their places in the 2026 World Cup finals. That leaves 30 spots to be decided for the summer holiday in Canada, Mexico and the USA, with the next round of fixtures set for October.
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| The 2026 World Cup Finals start on the 11th of June 2026 |
The happy campers so far are, apart from the three hosts, as follows:
AFRICA - Morocco, Tunisia
ASIA - Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan*, South Korea, Uzbekistan*
OCEANIA - New Zealand
SOUTH AMERICA - Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
* First-time qualifiers
And who will definitely not be there?
From those eliminated in Asia, the first that stands out is North Korea, whose miraculous apparition in 1966 heralded football's global expansion, but apart from a brief cameo in 2010 have not been back to the World Cup. Chollima failed to win a game in Group A and their best result was a 1-1 draw away to the United Arab Emirates. Pak Doo-Ik's '66 winner against Italy and his team's crazy quarter-final loss to Portugal were a long time ago.
The next absentee which struck me was Palestine, whose task was arguably harder than anyone's given current events, and who despite playing home games in Jordan, Malaysia and Qatar, managed to register two wins and four draws out of ten and missed advancing to the fourth round by only a point. The Lions of Canaan won twice as many points in Group B as Kuwait, who made it to the 1982 finals.
Finally, China will not be at the finals having finished fifth in Group C. It does seem odd that one of two genuine superpowers in the world, with the globe's largest military and manufacturing base, will not be amongst the 48 nations at the world's largest sporting event.
A decade ago the rise of the Chinese Super League seemed to herald a new frontier for football. Beijing's 2008 hosting of the Olympics had wowed the world and a similar World Cup hosting seemed sure. But in 2025 China remains a footballing backwater. Covid, a salary cap, corruption scandals, revenue drops and the rise of the Saudi Pro League have all been blamed.
In OCEANIA, New Caledonia (pop.271,000) came within a game of the finals but will have another chance in the inter-continental playoffs in March.
Six teams from CONMEBOL will be north of the equator next year with a possible seventh, Bolivia, joining them. Of the three unlucky Latins, baseball-loving Venezuela came closest finishing eighth, but collapsed 6-3 at home to neighbours Colombia in their crunch tie in Maturin. Los Cafeteros' Luis Suarez joined an elite group of South Americans who had scored four in a qualifier, namely Zico, Careca and Romario (Brazil) ,Ivan Zamorano (Chile) and namesake Luis Suarez of Uruguay.
Peru, five-times participants and twice quarter-finalists, are out, as are Chile, nine-times qualifiers and third-place finishers and hosts in 1962.
Of the African exiles, Togo are th only former qualifier (2006) left at home, although there is still a lot to play for. Nigeria are notably struggling, third in Group C with only two wins in eight, but a home tie against second-placed Benin in their final qualifier might save them. The other name that stands out is Cape Verde, flying high atop Group D and on course for a first-time World Cup qualification.
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| The Blue Sharks of Cape Verde |
Most UEFA nations have only played a couple of matches, though 1994 semi-finalists Bulgaria have taken a couple of 3-0 beatings, making a repeat of their American adventure an uphill task. 2-0 wins for Kosovo over Sweden at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium in Pristina in Group B and for Slovakia against Germany were early upsets.
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| Kosovo v Sweden, Fadil Vokrri Stadium Pristina |
As for the three remaining CONCACAF spots, never-qualified Suriname are currently leading Group A while Curacao, another potential debutant, are second in Group B behind the Reggae Boyz of Jamaica, who are jamming for their second appearance at the finals.
Morocco Qualifies for World Cup 2026
(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile