World Cup 2026 Map: 42 Spots Locked In and 6 Playoff Bouts to Decide the Rest

Qualification Overview

The 2026 World Cup, hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, will feature a record 48 teams. By the end of the current international window, 42 nations have already booked their tickets, leaving 6 berths to be decided via the intercontinental playoff route. The rest of the piece breaks down how each continent stages its path to the finals and what remains to be decided on the road to the big kick-off.

Regional Paths to the World Cup

Europe

Europe will send 16 teams to the finals. The qualifying system is two‑fold: a first phase with 12 groups where the group winners qualify directly, and a second phase with 16 teams (the 12 group runners‑up and the four best Nations League teams, provided they didn’t finish first or second in their groups). By the close of the first round, 12 teams had already booked direct places and included England, France, Croatia, Portugal, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, and Scotland. The second phase features the 16 remaining teams split into four paths of four. The semi-finals in each path take place on March 26, with the final on March 31; the winner of each path earns a World Cup berth. The group draw for the second round is set to take place in Zurich the day after, to arrange the paths into four levels: Level 1 – Italy, Denmark, Turkey, Ukraine; Level 2 – Poland, Wales, Czech Republic, Slovakia; Level 3 – Ireland, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo; Level 4 – Romania, Sweden, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland.

Concacaf

Three teams from North America were already set as hosts and thus qualified: the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The Concacaf qualification unfolds across three rounds. The opening round features four teams with home-and-away ties; the second round expands to 28 teams in six groups of five, with the group winners and runners-up advancing. The third round contains 12 teams in three groups of four; the group winners and runners-up progress to the World Cup directly, while the best two runners-up advance to the intercontinental playoff. Panema, Curaçao, and Haiti secured direct spots to the World Cup from this phase, while Jamaica and Suriname confirmed advancement to the intercontinental playoff after besting Honduras in the second‑phase second-place standings.

Asia

Asia’s qualification features five rounds. It starts with a broad pool and narrows to three groups of six in the third phase, from which the group winners and runners-up advance. Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Japan, and Australia advanced into the semi-final windows. The fourth round yields two group winners advancing to the final Asian playoff stage, with Qatar and Saudi Arabia emerging from those challenges. Iraq earned the World Cup playoff spot after defeating the United Arab Emirates. In the fifth round, the runners-up from the groups fought to produce Asia’s representative for the global playoff, with Iraq ultimately earning that slot.

South America

South America’s ten-nation qualifier runs as one long league, with the top six directly qualifying for the World Cup. The seventh-placed team enters the intercontinental playoff, and Bolivia earned that fifth‑berth playoff chance.

Africa

Africa staged its qualification in two rounds: nine groups in the opening phase, with the group winners earning direct World Cup qualification. The teams listed as direct qualifiers include Egypt, Senegal, South Africa, Cape Verde, Morocco, Côte d’Ivoire, Algeria, Tunisia, and Ghana. The four best runners-up then contested a second stage; Congo Democratic Republic edged into the intercontinental playoff slot.

Oceania

Oceania features three rounds. The first stage pits the least-ranked four teams against each other; the second stage brings eight teams into two groups, producing group winners to the third round. The fourth and final phase produces one World Cup qualifier and one playoff entrant: New Zealand earned the direct place, while New Caledonia finished as runner-up and moved toward the intercontinental playoff.

Intercontinental Playoff

The global playoff line-up includes Bolivia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Jamaica, New Caledonia, and Suriname. They will be split into two paths of three teams each; the winner of each path advances to the World Cup. The Playoff matches will be staged in March in Mexico, with the final draw determining who faces who and on which date. The official World Cup group stage draw will take place on December 5 in the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C.

In short: 42 teams are already in, 6 more will earn their places through a high-stakes playoff grid across continents, and history will be written in Washington when the final pairs are drawn.

Notes on the upcoming schedule

Mark your calendars: the Second Round Draw for Europe is expected to reveal the path structure, with matches in late March culminating in four winners who will join the direct qualifiers for the World Cup. The CONCACAF Round 3 and the Asian playoff routes look equally dramatic as teams chase one of those coveted six World Cup spots.

As we wait, one thing is clear: the map of the 2026 World Cup is taking shape with more drama than a final‑minute stoppage-time scenario. And if the trophy ever complains about jet lag, just tell it: it’s traveling more than a lot of fans do in a year.

Draw date and location

The World Cup group-stage draw is set for December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., a date that will determine the path for the remaining six qualifiers and the opening phases of a record 48-team tournament.

Humor break: If the teams spent half as much time sharpening their tactics as they do checking the World Cup draw, maybe the bracket would be a little less tangled—and the trophy a lot cleaner!

Punchline 1: If football had an obstacle course, the World Cup qualification would be the sprint under a ceiling fan—lots of twists, lots of spins, and somehow everybody ends up with a seat near the final whistle. Punchline 2: And if all those playoff paths were a dating app, the bios would read: “Looking for a group-stage win, must love drama, willing to travel across continents.”