Several nations qualified on Tuesday for the 2026 World Cup (June 11-July 19), the first to be hosted by three countries (United States, Canada, and Mexico) and in an expanded format with 48 teams. An update on the 28 nations already qualified.
England became the first European team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, with 15 direct spots remaining for nations from the Old Continent. The team secured its World Cup ticket at high speed on Tuesday, with a sixth win in six qualifying matches against Latvia (5-0). Other teams will wait until November to punch their ticket.
In Africa, the nine direct qualifiers were confirmed this Tuesday, October 14th, with the historic qualification of Cape Verde. The Maghreb region is strongly represented with Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria, who will also be joined by Egypt. Cameroon, Nigeria, and the DR Congo, former World Cup participants, will have to fight for the single ticket that grants entry to the continental playoff in March.
The first country to qualify on the field since last March 20th, Japan will lead the Asian squad along with a now regular, Saudi Arabia (7th World Cup), and two newcomers, Jordan and Uzbekistan.
In South America, the world champion Argentina will be there again, as will its rival Brazil, which remains to this day the only team to have participated in every World Cup.
Nations Already Qualified
Host Countries, qualified automatically: United States, Canada, and Mexico (3)
Asian Zone: Australia, South Korea, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia (8)
Oceania Zone: New Zealand (1)
South America Zone: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay (6)
Africa Zone: Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Senegal, Ivory Coast (9)
Europe Zone: England (1)
Teams qualified for the March Playoff Tournament (2 teams out of 6)
Bolivia, New Caledonia
How It Works
The 48 participating nations will be divided into twelve groups of four teams, with the top two from each group qualifying directly for the round of 16, a first in World Cup history. The eight best third-placed teams will complete the knockout stage bracket.
The opening match is scheduled for June 11, 2026, at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. The final will take place on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in the Greater New York area.
Sixteen stadiums will host the competition’s matches (eleven in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada).
The 16 Host Cities
United States: Kansas City, Boston, Greater New York, Seattle, Philadelphia, Atlanta, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Houston
Mexico: Monterrey, Mexico City, Guadalajara
Canada: Vancouver, Toronto