England have booked their place within the FIFA 2026 World Cup with two games to spare.
For the primary time in history, three countries – the USA, Canada and Mexico – are hosting the tournament, which has been somewhat controversially expanded.
The Three Lions are there after a 5-0 win over Latvia on Tuesday night, with Thomas Tuchel hoping to finish 60 years of hurt and convey football home.
With the all-important draw coming up in December, discover which teams have qualified for next summer’s World Cup:
Which teams have qualified thus far?
Up to now, 22 countries have booked their place on the 2026 World Cup alongside the three host nations, with Japan the primary nation to qualify outside of the three co-hosts.
CONMEBOL qualifying has wrapped up with reigning champions Argentina cruising to the highest of the table, while Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil are among the many tournament favourites.
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt return to the finals after missing out in 2022, while Cape Verde will change into the second-smallest country by population to compete on the World Cup having qualified for the very first time of their history.
Two Asian teams will make their World Cup debuts in 2026, namely Uzbekistan and Jordan who finished runner-up of their AFC qualifying groups.
2026 World Cup teams
Asia:
- Australia
- Iran
- Japan
- Jordan
- Qatar
- South Korea
- Uzbekistan
Africa:
- Algeria
- Egypt
- Ghana
- Morocco
- South Africa
- Tunisia
- Cape Verde
North and Central America:
- Canada (co-host)
- Mexico (co-host)
- United States (co-host)
South America:
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Paraguay
- Uruguay
Oceania:
Europe:
What number of teams will qualify in total?
Adore it or detest it, the World Cup is being expanded in 2026 from 32 to 48 teams.
16 European countries will go to the finals – the 12 that top their qualifying groups and 4 more through the UEFA play-offs in March.
Nine African teams will directly qualify, in addition to eight from Asia, six from South America, six from North and Central America (including the hosts) and one from Oceania.
Moreover, two teams will qualify through the inter-continental play-offs, which will probably be held in Mexico in March. Bolivia and Latest Caledonia will probably be there, joined by two teams from North and Central America, one from Asia and one from Africa.
When does the World Cup start?
The draw for the 2026 World Cup will happen on December 5 in Washington DC, though not every team will probably be known until after the play-offs next March.
The 2026 World Cup kicks off on June 11, with Mexico set to play the opening game on the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
The ultimate will happen on July 19 on the MetLife Stadium in Latest Jersey.
How will the World Cup format work?
With the World Cup expanding to 48 teams, the format has been tweaked for 2026 and is now somewhat much like the European championships.
The 48 teams will probably be drawn into 12 groups of 4, with the highest two from each group advancing to the knockout stage.
They will probably be joined by the eight best performing third-placed teams, with all other countries eliminated. The third-placed teams will probably be ranked first by points after which goal difference and goals scored.
From there, it’s an easy knockout format, because the 32 teams are whittled all the way down to the ultimate two. As ever, there will probably be a third-place play-off between the beaten semi-finalists.
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