Which countries have qualified for the 2026 World Cup?

The 2026 World Cup, which is taking place in the United States, Canada and Mexico, begins on June 11 next year. It will be the 23rd edition of the tournament and the first with 48 countries competing.

Qualification is already under way around the globe as teams battle to reach the world’s biggest sporting event.

Which countries have already secured their spot in North America next summer? How many places are awarded to each continental confederation? How far into the qualification process are those six regions?

Here is The Athletic’s guide to the state of play, which will be updated as qualification progresses.

How many teams from each confederation will be at the World Cup?

Here are the six confederations — which represent every FIFA-recognised country in the world — and how many places each has been allocated at the tournament:

AFC (Asia): Eight direct places and one team will compete in the inter-confederation play-offs.

CAF (Africa): Nine direct places and one team will compete in the inter-confederation play-offs.

CONCACAF (North America): Three direct places and two teams will compete in the inter-confederation play-offs. This excludes hosts United States, Canada and Mexico, who all automatically qualified as co-hosts.

CONMEBOL (South America): Six direct places and one team will compete in the inter-confederation play-offs.

OFC (Oceania): One direct place and one team will compete in the inter-confederation play-offs.

UEFA (Europe): Sixteen direct places.

The inter-confederation play-offs, which are set to take place in March 2026, will involve six teams, and two of them will advance to the World Cup. Oceania’s New Caledonia are the only side guaranteed to be competing in the play-offs right now.

Which countries have qualified?

United States (North America)

Previous World Cup appearances: 11
Best performance: Third place in 1930
Head coach: Mauricio Pochettino

The United States are hosting the World Cup for the second time — the first was in 1994 — and under former Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino will be desperate to perform well. They qualified automatically as co-hosts.

USMNT haven’t got past the round of 16 since 2002 and only once have they reached the semi-finals — in the inaugural competition in 1930 when they were knocked out by Argentina.

Pochettino’s side have lost their last two games — 0-1 to Panama and 1-2 to Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League Finals — and need to improve if they are to make any kind of mark at their own tournament.

Their next two matches are friendlies against Turkey (in East Hartford, Connecticut) and Switzerland (in Nashville, Tennessee) in June.

They will then compete, as co-hosts with Canada, in the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which runs from June 14 to July 6 this summer.

Canada (North America)

Previous World Cup appearances: Two
Best performance: Group stage in 1986 & 2022
Head coach: Jesse Marsch

The Canadians are playing at back-to-back World Cups for the first time and under former Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch will be aiming for a maiden appearance in the knockout stage. They qualified automatically as co-hosts.

Marsch will lead Canada to their third World Cup (Frederic J Brown/AFP/Getty Images)

Canada lost to Mexico in the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Nations League Finals earlier this month, but secured an impressive victory over USMNT in the third-place play-off.

Their next matches are friendlies against Ukraine and Ivory Coast in June (with both taking place in Toronto) before the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup starts.

Mexico (North America)

Previous World Cup appearances: 17
Best performance: Quarter-finals in 1970 & 1986
Head coach: Javier Aguirre

Mexico are hosting the men’s World Cup for a record third time, after previously doing so in 1970 and 1986. Like USMNT and Canada, they qualified automatically.

The Mexicans haven’t made the quarter-finals of the tournament since 1986 and were knocked out in the round of 16 at seven World Cups in a row from 1994 to 2018.

However, they are the reigning CONCACAF Gold Cup and CONCACAF Nations League champions (pictured top with the trophy) and, on paper, they are the strongest of the three host nations.

Like USMNT, Mexico face Switzerland and Turkey in friendlies in June. They will then attempt to defend their CONCACAF Gold Cup crown in the United States and Canada.

Japan (Asia)

Previous World Cup appearances: Seven
Best performance: Round of 16 in 2002, 2010, 2018 & 2022
Head coach: Hajime Moriyasu

Japan became the first country, other than the three host nations, to qualify for the World Cup with their 2-0 victory over Bahrain on March 20. It will be their eighth consecutive appearance at the tournament.

Ayase Ueda is Japan’s top scorer in qualifying so far, with the 26-year-old Feyenoord striker finding the net eight times.

Ayase Ueda played his part for Japan (Koji Watanabe/Getty Images)

Japan still have two games left to play in qualifying (against Australia and Indonesia), with those matches taking place in June.

New Zealand (Oceania)

Previous World Cup appearances: Two
Best performance: Group stage in 1982 & 2010
Head coach: Darren Bazeley

New Zealand are back at the World Cup for the first time since 2010, where they were eliminated in the group stage after drawing all three of their games.

This is the first World Cup where Oceania is guaranteed a spot at the tournament, and given Australia qualify in the Asian section, it was always likely that New Zealand would be in North America next summer.

The ‘All Whites’ breezed through qualifying, winning all three of their group games by an aggregate scoreline of 19-1. They then beat Fiji 7-0 in the semi-finals on March 21 before defeating New Caledonia 3-0 in the final on March 24 to book their place at the World Cup.

Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood, who played at the 2010 World Cup, was New Zealand’s top scorer in qualifying with nine goals.

Iran (Asia)

Previous World Cup appearances: Six
Best performance: Group Stage in 1978, 1998, 2006, 2014, 2018 & 2022
Head coach: Amir Ghalenoei

Iran have reached their fourth World Cup in a row with two games to spare and are unbeaten in qualification so far. They secured their place in North America with a 2-2 draw against Uzbekistan on March 25.

Inter Milan’s Mehdi Taremi has been their top scorer with nine goals and Iran play Qatar and North Korea in June in their final two matches.

What stage of qualification is each confederation at?

AFC (Asia): The third of five rounds, with six sides qualifying automatically when this stage ends in June.

CAF (Africa): The first round, with the nine group winners qualifying automatically when this stage ends in October.

CONCACAF (North America): The first group stage, with 12 teams advancing to the next round of qualification when this stage ends in June. The next round will see those sides split into three groups of four, with the winner of each qualifying for the World Cup.

CONMEBOL (South America): The only stage, which is a 10-team group containing all of the confederation’s members. All the sides play each other home and away, and the final set of matches are in September. The top six sides will qualify automatically.

OFC (Oceania): It has finished, with New Zealand qualifying. New Caledonia will compete in the inter-confederation play-offs.

UEFA (Europe): It has just begun, with six of the 12 groups underway. The final games in all of the groups will be played in November.

(Top photo: Mexico after winning the CONCACAF Nations League final on March 23; by Luiza Moraes via Getty Images)

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