Discover the 48 teams taking part in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Canada, Mexico, USA™, including host cities, game dates and qualifiers. Learn more with FIFA.

The semi-finals for both the UEFA and FIFA confederation playoffs take place on Tuesday, March 26, while the finals will be played the following week on Tuesday, March 31. Once those fixtures are concluded, all qualified teams for the 2026 World Cup will be confirmed.

42 teams have already qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 33 of them are ranked in the Top 50. Spain has topped the rankings since overtaking Argentina in September 2025. Four of the remaining six spots in the World Cup will be filled by nations from the European playoffs.

The road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup is long and treacherous, with 206 countries competing through various pathways across six confederations for a spot at the sport's biggest event.

The draw for UEFA's World Cup qualification playoffs is set for Thursday, Nov. 20 at 7 a.m. ET. UEFA's World Cup qualifying playoffs will be contested on March 26 (semifinals) and March 31 (finals). Twelve European countries have already clinched a spot in the 2026 World Cup:

Jersey and Guernsey will face each other in the first round of qualifying for the 2028 T20 World Cup. The Channel Island sides have been drawn to play in Qualifier A in Cyprus between 16 and 23 May, with the winners side progressing to the final round of European qualification.

FIFA will stage a larger World Cup next summer across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, expanding the field to 48 national teams. The tournament is set for June 2026 and will move from the traditional 32-team format. The change reshapes qualification, scheduling, and logistics for the first tri-nation World Cup.

Erling Haaland says Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo remain the benchmark for sustained excellence as he heads to his first FIFA World Cup. The Norway striker scored a record-equalling 16 goals in q