What nations can qualify for the 2026 World Cup in this international window?

For the first time ever in the tournament’s almost 100 years of history, 48 teams will participate at the forthcoming World Cup next summer with the tournament set to be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Going into the final international break of 2025, 28 nations have already qualified for the 2026 tournament with this forthcoming window offering an opportunity for several nations to secure their place at football’s biggest competition.

Already qualified for World Cup 2026

Host Nations: Canada, Mexico, United States (3 teams)

Qualified teams (to date)

AFC (Asia): Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan (8 teams)

CAF (Africa): Algeria, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia (9 teams)

CONMEBOL (South America): Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay (6 teams)

OFC (Oceania): New Zealand (1 team)

UEFA (Europe): England (1 team)

Who can qualify during the November window?

Here are some of the key countries that can book their tickets in Europe this window, depending on their results:

Europe (UEFA) - Direct Qualification Scenarios

France: Can qualify with a win against Ukraine (in Group D).

Spain: Can qualify with a win against Georgia if Türkiye fails to beat Bulgaria (in Group E).

Portugal: Can qualify with a win over Ireland, or with a draw if Hungary fail to beat Armenia (in Group F).

Netherlands: Can qualify with a win over Poland (in Group G).

Norway: Can qualify with a win over Estonia if Italy do not beat Moldova (in Group I).

Belgium: Can qualify with a win in Kazakhstan (in Group J).

Croatia: Can secure first place with a home win over the Faroe Islands (in Group L).

Germany: Needs to win both their remaining games against Luxembourg and Slovakia to guarantee an automatic spot (in Group A).

Switzerland: Can qualify directly if they defeat Sweden and Kosovo does not win (in Group B).

UEFA play-off path

Sixteen teams (twelve group runners-up and four best Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall ranking, that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group) will be drawn into four paths, playing two rounds of single-match play-offs (semi-finals with the seeded teams to host, followed by finals, with the home teams to be drawn). The four path winners will qualify for the World Cup from the March 2026 games.

Other Confederations

Many qualifying campaigns in other regions are either already settled for the direct spots or are in a different phase of competition.

AFC (Asia): Both Iraq and the UAE are involved in two legged contest during the window with the victor set to progress to the inter-confederation play-off for the 2026 World Cup.

CAF (Africa): The FIFA window will see the four remaining African nations still in contention play a semi-final round and then final with the victor from the Rabat games progressing to the inter-confederation playoffs next year.

Gabon-Nigeria and Nigeria-DR Congo

CONCACAF (North America): We’ve reached the climax in the region with each team set to play two games from their final group games with the winners of each three groups progressing to the World Cup. The two best runners up will advance to the inter-confederation play offs.

As things stand, the three teams topping each group are: Suriname, Jamaica and Honduras.

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