The 2026 FIFA World Cup is fast approaching, as the United States is set to co-host the world’s biggest tournament next summer for the first time since the USA hosted in 1994.
The U.S. Men’s National Team is automatically qualified as a host, as are Mexico and Canada. For the first time in history, FIFA has expanded the tournament to 48 teams. That means there are 45 other spots for countries to secure their place — and some already have. As of publication, 18 teams have locked in spots for next June.
Each confederation has an allotted set of spots. Concacaf, for example, has six tickets outside of the host nations. The qualifying process isn’t the same for every confederation, as some use group stages and league tables while others use knockout rounds. Most of the tournament field will be set by December 2025, when FIFA will hold the World Cup draw on Dec. 5. The two final spots will be decided in an inter-confederation playoff between six teams in March 2026 for the first time. Teams in each confederation, except UEFA, will have a chance at the playoff. Concacaf has two playoff spots while every other confederation has one.
2026 World Cup spots by confederation:
- AFC (Asia): 8 World Cup places
- CAF (Africa): 9 World Cup places
- Concacaf (North/Central America & Caribbean): 6 World Cup places (excluding hosts)
- CONMEBOL (South America): 6 World Cup places
- OFC (Oceania): 1 World Cup place
- UEFA (Europe): 16 World Cup places
Here’s a running tracker of every qualified nation:
| Team | Confederation | Qualified | Date Qualified | Last Time Qualified | Total Appearances* |
| 1. USA | CONCACAF | Co-host | Feb. 14, 2023 | 2022 | 12 |
| 2. Canada | CONCACAF | Co-host | Feb. 14, 2023 | 2022 | 3 |
| 3. Mexico | CONCACAF | Co-host | Feb. 14, 2023 | 2022 | 18 | 4. Japan | AFC | AFC Group C winners | March 20, 2025 | 2022 | 8 | 5. New Zealand | OFC | OFC Group B winners | March 24, 2025 | 2010 | 3 | 6. IR Iran | AFC | AFC Group A winners | March 25, 2025 | 2022 | 7 | 7. Argentina | CONMEBOL | CONMEBOL winners | March 25, 2025 | 2022 | 19 | 8. Uzbekistan | AFC | AFC Group A runners-up | June 5, 2025 | First-time qualifier | 1 | 9. Korea Republic | AFC | AFC Group B winners | June 5, 2025 | 2022 | 12 |
| 10. Jordan | AFC | AFC Group B runners-up | June 5, 2025 | First-time qualifier | 1 |
| 11. Australia | AFC | AFC Group C runners-up | June 10, 2025 | 2022 | 7 | 12. Brazil | CONMEBOL | CONMEBOL top six | June 10, 2025 | 2022 | 23 | 13. Ecuador | CONMEBOL | CONMEBOL top six | June 11, 2025 | 2022 | 5 | 14. Colombia | CONMEBOL | CONMEBOL top six | Sept. 4, 2025 | 2018 | 7 | 15. Paraguay | CONMEBOL | CONMEBOL top six | Sept. 4, 2025 | 2010 | 9 | 16. Uruguay | CONMEBOL | CONMEBOL top six | Sept. 4, 2025 | 2022 | 15 | 17. Morocco | CAF | CAF Group E winners | Sept. 5, 2025 | 2022 | 7 | 18. Tunisia | AFC | Group H winners | Sept. 8, 2025 | 2022 | 7 |
*including 2026
Source: https://ussoccer.com/stories/2025/09/which-nations-qualified-2026-fifa-world-cup-usmnt
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