FIFA World Cup qualifying heats up

October match-ups see nations continue to book their tickets
to North America, for the inaugural 48-team FIFA World Cup
co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada

QUALIFICATION FORMAT
Final matchdays: Nov 2025
Play-offs: Mar 2026

North
America: 6

South
America: 6

Europe:
16 places

Africa: 9

Asia: 8

Play-offs: 2

Oceania: 1


QUALIFIED TEAMS
Teams ordered by 2026 qualification position	Tournaments (inc. 2026)

NORTH AMERICA	Best finish
3 Canada	Group stage 1986, 2022
18 Mexico	Quarter-final 1970, 86
22 USA		Third-place 1930

SOUTH AMERICA
19 Argentina	3-time winner
5 Ecuador	Round of 16, 2006
7 Colombia	Quarter-final 2014
15 Uruguay	Winner 1930, 1950
23 Brazil	5-time winner
9 Paraguay	Quarter-final 2010

OCEANIA
3 New Zealand	Groups 1982, 2010

ASIA
7 Iran		6-time group stage
12 South Korea	Fourth place 2002
8 Japan		4-time round of 16
1 Uzbekistan	Debut
1 Jordan	Debut
7 Australia	Round of 16, 2006, 22

AFRICA
4 Egypt		Group stage 1990, 2018
7 Morocco	Fourth-place 2022
5 Algeria	Round of 16, 2014
7 Tunisia	6-time group stage

Qualifying places set
to be secured Oct 8-14



Source: FIFA
© GRAPHIC NEWS
Picture: Wikimedia Commons