Posted June 21, 20241 yr Main threads Africa Asia Europe North America Oceania South America As you’ll know - the competition has been extended to 48 teams for the 2026 competition. That means the slot allocation has been changed and is now: AFC - 8 via qualifying CAF - 9 via qualifying CONCACAF - 3 hosts, 3 via qualifying CONMEBOL - 6 via qualifying OFC - 1 via qualifying UEFA - 16 via qualifying (55 countries) 2 more spots are available via intercontinental qualifying play-offs. Each confederation sets the qualifying rules for their own confederation which results in different routes for countries depending on their location. Below is an overview. Asian Football Confederation (46 nations). The AFC had 46 nations taking part in their five round qualification process. First Round - 20 teams - ranked 27-46 played in a 2 legged home and away fixture in October 2023 Eliminated in First Round: Mongolia, Maldives, Guam, Sri Lanka, Macau, Cambodia, East Timor, Brunei, Bhutan, Laos Qualified for Second Round: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, Yemen, Myanmar, Pakistan, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Nepal Second Round - 36 teams - ranked 1-26 + the 10 first round winners divided into 9 groups of 4 and play home and away round robin, the group winners and runners up advance to round 3. Eliminated in Second Round: India, Afghanistan, Syria, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, Turkmenistan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Philippines, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Nepal, Lebanon, Bangladesh Qualified for Third Round: Qatar, Kuwait, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, China, Oman, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Indonesia, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Australia, Palestine. Third Round: Matches begin 5th September 2024 3 groups of 6 with home and away round robin. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the World Cup. The 3rd and 4th placed teams will go to the fourth round. 5th and 6th placed teams will be eliminated. Fourth Round: October 2025 Pots for this will be drawn on 27 June 2024. 3rd and 4th placed teams from the third round will be placed into two groups of three and play once against each other at a neutral venue. Winners of groups qualify for the world cup, runners up go to the fifth round. Third place eliminated. Fifth Round - November 2025 The two second place teams from each group in the fourth round will play a two-legged match with the winner gaining a place in the intercontinental play offs. Confederation of African Football (53 nations) First Round (ongoing) - 9 groups of 6 set to play home and away matches with the winners of each group qualifying for the world cup. Play-Off Stage - The four best group runners up will play in semi-final and final play-offs to win a place at the inter-confederation play-offs. Confederation of North, Central American and Carribean Association Football (32 nations) First Round: Teams ranked 29 to 32 played two-legged home and away fixtures. The winners advance to the second round. Eliminated: Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S Virgin Islands Qualified for Second Round: Anguilla, British Virgin Islands Second Round: 6 groups of 5 teams composing the two first round qualifiers and the 28 best ranked teams will play single round robin matches (2 home, 2 away). Group winners and runners up will advance to the third round. Third Round: Twelve advancers from Second Round drawn into 3 groups of 4 and play double round-robin matches. The three winners will qualify for the world cup with the 2 best ranked runners up advancing to the intercontinental play off. CONMEBOL (South American Football Association) (10 nations) Nice simple one here - the 10 teams in the confederation will play home and away round robin format with the 6 highest placed teams in the league qualifying for the World Cup. Oceania Football Confederation (11 nations) First Round: The four lowest ranked teams will play in a 3 match (semi finals - final style) knockout round with the winner advancing to the second round. Second Round: Winner from the first round and 7 highest ranked teams will be split into two groups of four. The top two teams from each group will advance to the third round. Third Round: The four advancing teams from the second round will play a knockout semi-final and final. The winner will qualify directly for the World Cup. The runner up will take a slot at the inter-confederation play-offs. Union of European Football Associations (55 nations) First Round: 12 groups of 4 or 5 teams will play round robin home and away matches with the winners of each group qualifying for the world cup. Second Round: 16 teams - (12 runners up and the 4 highest ranked Nations League teams not already qualified) will be placed into semi-final/final knockout pathways with the four path winners qualifying for the World Cup. Dates AFC Third Round - 5 September 2024 - 10 June 2025 CAF - November 2023 - October 2025 CONCACAF - 22 March 2024 - November 2025 CONMEBOL - 7 September 2023 - September 2025 OFC -2 September 2024 - March 2025 UEFA - 21 March 2025 - 31 March 2026
June 21, 20241 yr Hi! We already have threads for each of the continental qualifiers, but I'm happy to leave this thread open for any overall discussion on them. I'll link the threads in your OP now ^_^
June 21, 20241 yr Author Hi! We already have threads for each of the continental qualifiers, but I'm happy to leave this thread open for any overall discussion on them. I'll link the threads in your OP now ^_^ I should have done a more thorough search sorry. Feel free to remove this.
June 21, 20241 yr Author Anyway, I do think it's a bit rotten that 10 team South America gets an intercontinental play off slot while 55 team Europe doesn't get any.
June 29, 20241 yr Author Less than two years to go until the tournament itself here's the state of qualifying by country. Qualifying is already underway in the AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL. A total of 30 countries have been eliminated (28 AFC and 2 CONCACAF) It will get underway in September 2024 for the OFC. It will get underway in March 2025 for UEFA. Countries that have already secured the World Cup slots (so far just the hosts) are in Green. Countries that can still qualify are in Blue Countries that are already eliminated are in Red. AFC (8 direct slots, 1 intercontinental play-off slot) Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Chinese Taipei, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Korea DPR, Korea Republic, Kuwait, Kyrgz Republic, Laos, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen CAF (9 direct slots, 1 intercontinental play off slot) Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Congo DR, Côte D’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea*, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritiana, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe *Withdrew from competition CONCACAF (3 hosts, 3 qualifiers, 2 intercontinental play-off slots) Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, United States, US Virgin Islands CONMEBOL (6 direct slots, 1 intercontinental play-off slot) Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela OFC (1 direct slot, 1 intercontinental play-off slot) American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tonga, Vanuatu UEFA (16 direct slots, 0 intercontinental play-off slots) Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, England, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Northern Ireland, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia*, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales * Suspended by FIFA Intercontinental Play-Off (2 slots) 6 teams - TBC The intention is update this post as countries drop out from their respective confederations qualifying competitions.
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