The international qualifiers are underway across the globe with a host of high-stakes matches. While qualifying systems differ in their structure and challenges, they all serve a similar purpose: determining the best teams to represent their continent at the World Cup finals. This year’s tournament, which takes place in Qatar, will feature 48 teams, the highest number ever.
In this edition of our series, we will be tracking the progress of all nations competing to secure their spot at the 2026 finals. The first round of qualifications soft-launched on March 21, with double-headers in June, September and October before being completed in November. The top six nations in each group will move on to the second round of qualifiers, paired against one another in two-legged ties for the chance to be seeded and win a place at the finals.
The next stage of qualifiers is based on FIFA’s continental zones, with Africa, Asia, North and Central America and the Caribbean, South America and Europe each running their own competition. The top six nations from each zone will qualify for the finals, while the seventh-placed team will get a second chance through an intercontinental play-off. In most knockout qualifiers, the teams that score the most goals over the course of the two legs will advance to the finals, with a tiebreaker applying if the results are level on aggregate or goal difference. If the scores are still tied, additional criteria such as goal difference, away goals and head-to-head comparisons may be used to determine the winner.