2026 World Cup (archived)

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Qualifying

  • AFC - 8 Teams Automatic, 1 Team in Playoff
    • 16 teams in main draw, 4 Groups of 4 in double round robin. Top two advance in each, third place face off in one round robin group. Top team advances to playoff
  • CAF - 9 Teams Automatic, 1 Team in Playoff
    • 20 teams in main draw, 5 Groups of 4 in double round robin. Top automatically advances, Second place teams ranked by Points and Goal Differential. Top 4 second place teams automatically qualify, fifth second place team in playoff
  • CONCACAF - 6 Teams Automatic, 1+1 Teams in Playoff
    • Mexico, Canada and United States Qualify as Host
    • Normally, 3 Groups of 4 out of 12 teams would be in double round robin. However, the Hex (one double round robin of six teams) will be used, with the Top 3 advancing automatically and the 4th and 5th place team advancing to the playoff.
  • CONMEBOL - 6 Teams Automatic, 1 Team in Playoff
    • The Copa America will be used as the form of Qualification. 2 Groups of 5 in a round robin, Top 2 in each group advance to the Semi-Finals (and therefore the World Cup). Remaining six teams will qualify in a Hex just like CONCACAF, but will only do a single round robin. Top two in the Hex automatically qualify, third place advances to the playoff.
  • OFC - 1 Team Automatic, 1 Team in Playoff
    • 6 Teams divided into 2 groups of 3 in Double Round Robin. Top Teams qualify to two-legged final. Winner advances to World Cup, runner-up advances to Playoff.
  • UEFA - 16 Teams Automatic
    • There are 55 teams total in UEFA. Bottom 14 face each other in 2 team two-legged playoff, winners advance to main stage. Remaining 48 teams divided into 8 groups of 6. Top two in each group automatically qualify.
  • Playoff - 2 Teams Advance
    • 1 AFC (Third Place Playoff), 1 CAF (5th second place team), 2 CONCACAF (4th and 5th in Hex), 1 CONMEBOL (7th), 1 OFC (2nd)

Teams

Team Conference Pot Ranking Last Appearance
USA.png United States CONCACAF Host 2022
Mexico.png Mexico CONCACAF Host 2022
Canada.png Canada CONCACAF Host 1986
China.png China AFC A1 2002
Uzbekistan.png Uzbekistan AFC A1 2022
Australia.png Australia AFC A1 2022
Jordan.png Jordan AFC A1 never
South Korea.png South Korea AFC A2 2022
Iran.png Iran AFC A2 2022
India.png India AFC A2 never
Japan.png Japan AFC A2 2018
Mali.png Mali CAF F1 never
Angola.png Angola CAF F1 2006
Nigeria.png Nigeria CAF F1 2018
Burkina Faso.png Burkina Faso CAF F1 never
Zambia.png Zambia CAF F1 never
Uganda.png Uganda CAF F2 2022
Colombia.png Colombia CONMEBOL S1 2022
Paraguay.png Paraguay CONMEBOL S1 2010
Chile.png Chile CONMEBOL S2 2022
Ecuador.png Ecuador CONMEBOL S2 2014
England.png England UEFA E1 2022
Ireland.png Republic of Ireland UEFA E1 2002
Spain.png Spain UEFA E1 2022
Italy.png Italy UEFA E1 2022
Turkey.png Turkey UEFA E1 2002
Israel.png Israel UEFA E1 1970
Russia.png Russia UEFA E1 2022
Portugal.png Portugal UEFA E1 2022
Austria.png Austria UEFA E2 2022
France.png France UEFA E2 2022
Northern Ireland.png Northern Ireland UEFA E2 1986
Denmark.png Denmark UEFA E2 2018
Germany.png Germany UEFA E2 2022
Montenegro.png Montenegro UEFA E2 never
Croatia.png Croatia UEFA E2 2018
Romania.png Romania UEFA E2 1998
New Zealand.png New Zealand OFC OFC 2010
Togo.png Togo CAF F2 2006
Algeria.png Algeria CAF F2 2014
South Africa.png South Africa CAF F2 2022
Venezuela.png Venezuela CONMEBOL S3 never
Argentina.png Argentina CONMEBOL S3 2022
Haiti.png Haiti CONCACAF N1 1974
Guatemala.png Guatemala CONCACAF N1 never
Tobago.png Trinidad & Tobago CONCACAF N1 2006
Brazil.png Brazil CONMEBOL PL 2022
Ivory Coast.png Ivory Coast CAF PL 2014

Qualification

For the first time in FIFA World Cup history, 48 teams were able to qualify for the World Cup. Also for the first time, three countries were automatically entered as hosts, as United States, Mexico, and Canada were confirmed to host the World Cup. It is the third time Mexico will host, the second time the United States will host, and the first time Canada will host. It is also the first time since 1986 that Canada will participate in the World Cup, ironically a year when Mexico hosted a World Cup.

Eight teams were able to directly qualify from Asia. China qualified for the first time since 2002, while Uzbekistan repeated their previous World Cup success by topping their qualifying group. India qualified for their first ever World Cup on merit; they qualified by default for the 1950 World Cup, but did not participate. Jordan also qualified for their first ever World Cup. The inter-continental playoff spot went to Qatar, who were expected to host the 2022 World Cup but were found guilty of bribing their way to host the tournament.

Nine teams were able to qualify from Africa. Mali qualified for their first ever World Cup, beating Algeria and Cameroon in their group in the process; Cameroon endured a disastrous qualifying campaign and did not qualify for the second place playoff. Egypt, who qualified for the last two World Cups, placed last in their qualifying group; Angola qualified for their first World Cup in the same group for the first time since 2006. Nigeria qualified in Group C, while Togo and Cape Verde Islands battled for second place, with Togo nearly winning to advance. Ghana and Morocco both floundered in their qualifying group, despite being favoured to win, while Burkina Faso qualified for the World Cup for the first time, while Uganda repeated their surprise success four years previously. Zambia also qualified for their first World Cup. In the second place playoff, Togo, Algeria, and South Africa all advanced, while Ivory Coast had to play in the inter-continental playoff.

North America's qualifying threw a few surprises in their first round, as Panama, Honduras, and Costa Rica, all seeded teams, all failed to advance to the second round. Teams such as Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Curacao all advanced to the "hexagonal" for the first time. In the end, Trinidad would qualify for the first time since 2006, Haiti for the first time since 1974, and Guatemala for the first time ever. Nicaragua and Curacao advanced to the inter-continental playoff, with CONCACAF given a second team as they were hosting the main event.

South America had to alter their qualifying format as 6 out of the 10 member teams were given spots to qualify for the event. The qualifying was divided into two rounds, with the top two in the first round automatically advancing. Colombia, Chile, Paraguay, and Ecuador all advanced to the World Cup this way. Surprisingly, Argentina and Brazil had to go to the second round despite being seeded, and gathered with the rest of South America in their own "hexagonal," much like North America. Argentina was able to advance, while the surprising Venezuelans qualified for their first World Cup by winning four out of five matches in the group, beating both Argentina and Brazil in the process. Brazil advanced to the inter-continental qualifier, while Uruguay was knocked out of the tournament.

Oceania was given one spot automatically, and New Zealand, the only powerhouse team in the conference, took advantage and won all of their games to advance to the World Cup. Papua New Guinea, who was ranked last out of all the teams to advance to the main stage of the qualifying, surprised Fiji and Tahiti in their group and advanced to the inter-continental playoff.

In Europe, 16 teams were able to qualify, and none of them were able to enter the inter-continental playoff. This meant that only the top two teams from each qualifying group were able to advance. England and Austria advanced in their group, repeating their success from 2022. Belgium was knocked out in the process. Ireland topped their group advancing to the World Cup for the first time since 2002, going alongside France. Spain easily qualified in their group while Northern Ireland advanced to the World Cup for the first time since 1986, making it the first time both Ireland teams were in the same World Cup. Italy and Denmark qualified in their group, after Finland, who had never qualified for the World Cup before, lost a heart-breaker to Hungary in their last qualifying game. Turkey and Germany qualified in their group, narrowly beating out Serbia. Israel qualified for their first World Cup since 1970, while Montenegro qualified for the first time since they were a part of Serbia-Montenegro in 2006. They knocked out Netherlands and Switzerland in the process. Croatia and Russia qualified as expected, knocking out Wales who were expected to be a contender, only to place below Luxembourg in the group. Portugal qualified in their group, while Romania qualified for the first time since 1998,while Poland and Albania narrowly missed out.

In the inter-continental playoffs, Papua New Guinea and Curacao both advanced against Brazil and Ivory Coast respectively. Brazil easily defeated Papua New Guinea to qualify, while Ivory Coast needed a late goal and extra time to qualify against Curacao, advancing to their first World Cup since 2014.

In total, eight teams qualified for the first time in their history (including Montenegro, who did not retain their history when they separated from Serbia), while five other teams (including hosts Canada) qualified for the first time since the turn of the millennium. 20 teams out of 32 who qualified in 2022 were able to qualify in 2026, while four more had only missed the previous edition, last qualifying in 2018.


Groups

Group A

  • USA.png United States vs Northern Ireland.png Northern Ireland (Tie 1-1, NIR win 3-2 in penalties)
  • Northern Ireland.png Northern Ireland vs China.png China (NIR 1-0)
  • USA.png United States vs China.png China (USA 3-1)

Group B

  • Ecuador.png Ecuador vs Turkey.png Turkey (ECU 2-0)
  • Turkey.png Turkey vs Angola.png Angola (ANG 2-1)
  • Ecuador.png Ecuador vs Angola.png Angola (ECU 1-0)

Group C

  • Argentina.png Argentina vs Russia.png Russia (RUS 1-0)
  • Russia.png Russia vs Togo.png Togo (RUS 3-0)
  • Argentina.png Argentina vs Togo.png Togo (ARG 5-0)

Group D

  • Italy.png Italy vs Iran.png Iran (ITA 3-0)
  • Iran.png Iran vs Ivory Coast.png Ivory Coast (Tie 0-0, IRN win 3-1 in penalties)
  • Italy.png Italy vs Ivory Coast.png Ivory Coast (ITA 2-0)

Group E

  • Portugal.png Portugal vs Algeria.png Algeria (POR 4-0)
  • Algeria.png Algeria vs Haiti.png Haiti (ALG 3-1)
  • Portugal.png Portugal vs Haiti.png Haiti (POR 8-0)

Group F

  • Mexico.png Mexico vs Venezuela.png Venezuela (MEX 2-1)
  • Venezuela.png Venezuela vs Montenegro.png Montenegro (VEN 2-0)
  • Mexico.png Mexico vs Montenegro.png Montenegro (MON 2-0)

Group G

  • Paraguay.png Paraguay vs Romania.png Romania (ROM 3-1)
  • Romania.png Romania vs Uganda.png Uganda (ROM 2-0)
  • Paraguay.png Paraguay vs Uganda.png Uganda (PAR 3-0)

Group H

  • Spain.png Spain vs South Korea.png South Korea (ESP 1-0)
  • South Korea.png South Korea vs South Africa.png South Africa (RSA 2-1)
  • Spain.png Spain vs South Africa.png South Africa (ESP 3-1)

Group I

  • Germany.png Germany vs Mali.png Mali (GER 4-0)
  • Mali.png Mali vs Jordan.png Jordan (MAL 3-2)
  • Germany.png Germany vs Jordan.png Jordan (GER 4-1)

Group J

  • Croatia.png Croatia vs Nigeria.png Nigeria (CRO 3-1)
  • Nigeria.png Nigeria vs Guatemala.png Guatemala (Tie 1-1, NIG win 4-2 on penalties)
  • Croatia.png Croatia vs Guatemala.png Guatemala (CRO 4-0)

Group K

  • Chile.png Chile vs Ireland.png Republic of Ireland (IRE 2-0)
  • Ireland.png Republic of Ireland vs New Zealand.png New Zealand (Tie 0-0, IRE win 5-4 on penalties)
  • Chile.png Chile vs New Zealand.png New Zealand (CHL 4-0)

Group L

  • France.png France vs Burkina Faso.png Burkina Faso (FRA 6-0)
  • Burkina Faso.png Burkina Faso vs Uzbekistan.png Uzbekistan (UZB 2-0)
  • France.png France vs Uzbekistan.png Uzbekistan (FRA 4-0)

Group M

  • Brazil.png Brazil vs Austria.png Austria (BRA 2-0)
  • Austria.png Austria vs Tobago.png Trinidad and Tobago (TRI 3-1)
  • Brazil.png Brazil vs Tobago.png Trinidad and Tobago (BRA 6-0)

Group N

  • Israel.png Israel vs Japan.png Japan (ISR 1-0)
  • Japan.png Japan vs Zambia.png Zambia (JPN 2-1)
  • Israel.png Israel vs Zambia.png Zambia (ISR 1-0)

Group O

  • England.png England vs Australia.png Australia (AUS 3-1)
  • Australia.png Australia vs Canada.png Canada (AUS 2-0)
  • England.png England vs Canada.png Canada (ENG 4-0)

Group P

  • Colombia.png Colombia vs Denmark.png Denmark (COL 1-0)
  • Denmark.png Denmark vs India.png India (Tie 0-0, DEN win 4-2 on penalties)
  • Colombia.png Colombia vs India.png India (COL 2-0)

Knockout Stage

  Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
                                               
A1  Northern Ireland.png Northern Ireland 3  
B2  Angola.png Angola 0  
  A1  Northern Ireland.png Northern Ireland 1  
  C1  Russia.png Russia 2e  
C1  Russia.png Russia 3e
D2  Iran.png Iran 2  
  C1  Russia.png Russia 1  
  E1  Portugal.png Portugal 2e  
E1  Portugal.png Portugal 4  
F2  Montenegro.png Montenegro 0  
  E1  Portugal.png Portugal 2
  G1  Romania.png Romania 0  
G1  Romania.png Romania 2
H2  South Africa.png South Africa 0  
  E1  Portugal.png Portugal 2  
  M1  Brazil.png Brazil 4e  
I1  Germany.png Germany 3  
J2  Nigeria.png Nigeria 0  
  I1  Germany.png Germany 1 (4)
  K1  Ireland.png Republic of Ireland 1 (1)  
K1  Ireland.png Republic of Ireland 1
L2  Uzbekistan.png Uzbekistan 0  
  I1  Germany.png Germany 1
  M1  Brazil.png Brazil 2e  
M1  Brazil.png Brazil 1  
N2  Japan.png Japan 0  
  M1  Brazil.png Brazil 1
  O1  Australia.png Australia 0  
O1  Australia.png Australia 2
P2  Denmark.png Denmark 1  
M1  Brazil.png Brazil 0
D1  Italy.png Italy 3
B1  Ecuador.png Ecuador 1  
A2  USA.png United States 2  
  A2  USA.png United States 0  
  D1  Italy.png Italy 3  
D1  Italy.png Italy 3
C2  Argentina.png Argentina 0  
  D1  Italy.png Italy 2  
  E2  Algeria.png Algeria 0  
F1  Venezuela.png Venezuela 0  
E2  Algeria.png Algeria 2  
  E2  Algeria.png Algeria 3e
  H1  Spain.png Spain 2  
H1  Spain.png Spain 2
G2  Paraguay.png Paraguay 0  
  D1  Italy.png Italy 2e
  K2  Chile.png Chile 1  
J1  Croatia.png Croatia 4  
I2  Mali.png Mali 0  
  J1  Croatia.png Croatia 1
  K2  Chile.png Chile 2e  
L1  France.png France 2
K2  Chile.png Chile 3e  
  K2  Chile.png Chile 3
  N1  Israel.png Israel 0  
N1  Israel.png Israel 3  
M2  Tobago.png Trinidad and Tobago 1  
  N1  Israel.png Israel 2
  P1  Colombia.png Colombia 0  
P1  Colombia.png Colombia 2
O2  England.png England 0  


  • Third Place: E1 Portugal.png Portugal vs K2 Chile.png Chile (3-0)