Who's qualified for the 2026 World Cup? Full list of teams so far

The 2026 FIFA men's World Cup is fast approaching and with almost all the qualifying finished, Friday's draw will confirm the path for most teams through the tournament. There new 48 team field. after FIFA decided to expand from the old 32-team format that had been in place since the 1998 World Cup, means 12 groups of four. The 2026 edition will take place in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, kicking off on June 11, 2026, at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, and ending on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New York City.

Because of the tournament's expansion, Europe is guaranteed 16 slots out of the 48 total teams, while the African confederation (CAF) gets nine, and Asia (AFC) has eight. There will also be a minimum of six each from South America (CONMEBOL) and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf). On top of this, for the first time in history, the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) has one guaranteed slot, while the remaining two spots will be decided through intercontinental playoffs.

In part thanks to the expansion there are four teams that secured qualification to the first men's World Cup in their history. Uzbekistan, Jordan, Cabo Verde and Curacao will all be at the World Cup for the first time, and more first-timers could join them as the dust settles. With a population of 185,494, Curacao became the smallest nation to ever qualify for the World Cup. Let's take a look at who has already booked their tickets to the World Cup:

Already qualified for the 2026 World Cup

Spots clinched: 42/48

World Cup hosts 

Since the 2026 World Cup is co-hosted by three nations, they all receive an automatic qualifying spot in the tournament. 

• United States
• Mexico
  
• Canada

AFC Qualifiers 

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

Concacaf Qualifiers

• Haiti
• Curacao
• Panama

OFC Qualifier

• New Zealand

CONMEBOL Qualifiers

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

CAF Qualifiers

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

UEFA qualifiers

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

Chaos in UEFA

Teams such as England, Portugal, France and Croatia booked their place in the World Cup, as the winners of each qualifying group will head directly to the tournament. But the second-placed team in each group will head to a playoff phase, such as Italy that might miss their third World Cup in a row. Those 12 second-placed teams will be joined by the four best UEFA Nations League group winners.

That second round will see 16 teams drawn into four paths with two rounds of single-match playoffs that will lead to a final with the four overall path winners heading to the World Cup. Due to that process, no UEFA teams will take part in the inter-confederation playoffs. These also won't conclude until March of 2026.

Who makes the inter-confederation playoffs?

The final World Cup participants won't be determined until March of 2026, following the draw for the World Cup groups. A playoff will take place in North America in March, including one team each from the following regions: AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, alongside two from Concacaf to determine the final two places in the World Cup. 

The bottom four teams in the FIFA World Rankings will be drawn into two single-elimination matches, where the winner will advance to face the top two teams in the rankings, with the winners of those two matches qualifying for the World Cup. 

Currently in the inter-confederation playoffs

• Bolivia
• DR Congo
• Iraq
• Jamaica
• New Caledonia
• Suriname

When is the World Cup draw?

Paths to the World Cup final will be revealed on Dec. 5 in a ceremony taking place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.. At that time, teams will know what groups they will be drawn into, and while the final teams will still need to be determined, placeholders will be used for their spots in the draw.