North America welcomed the largest World Cup in history in 2026, with more nations than ever before participating in the largest football scene.
The qualifications have now started in all member associations, and the trip will be difficult for many. The process began until October 2023 for some.
The expanded tournament opens opportunities for an even greater representation around the world, each federation offering more guaranteed places to the World Cup than ever before.
With most of the qualification campaigns concluded by the end of the year, here is an overview of the nations that reserved their place at the 2026 World Cup.
Nation | Qualified date |
|---|---|
USA | Hosts |
Canada | Hosts |
Mexico | Hosts |
Japan | March 20, 2025 |
For the first time in the history of the World Cup, 48 teams will participate in the tournament. From 1998 to 2022, the World Cup was a tournament of 32 teams.
FIFA initially planned that their enlarged competition implies 16 groups of three teams, but the thrills that the groups with four teams provided with Qatar mean that the group phase in 2026 will include 12 groups of four and 32 teams will move to eliminations.
We are already talking about the desire for FIFA to eventually make the World Cup a 64 nations tournament from 2030, which means that 2026 could be the only competition of 48 teams.
12 of the 22 World Cups were won by a European nation, and UEFA, due to the size of the federation and the previous results, has the most direct slots for the 2026 World Cup.
Qualifications in Europe began in March 2025 and will not end before March 2026, just a few months before the start of the tournament. 16 nations are guaranteed to place their place in North America, the 12 winners of the group being joined by four winners in the playoffs.
The ten remaining victories of the World Cup were claimed by three South American nations: Brazil, the holders of Argentina and Uruguay.
Ten teams are involved in the qualifications of Conmebol, but at least six will compete for the 2026 World Cup. There is also a place of inter-continental dam.
Those who end in the top six of the qualification table then will reserve their place, while seventh place will participate in the play-off.
Hosts automatically qualify for the tournament, so the United States, Canada and Mexico are not involved in the Concacaf qualification process.
Qualifications are a three -step process, the third and last round involving 12 teams which will be trained in three groups of four. The three winners of the group will join the hosts of the 2026 World Cup, while the two best-classified finalists will qualify for the inter-continental qualifiers.
In March 2025, Japan became the first nation outside the three hosts to qualify for the 2026 World Cup due to the victory of group C in the third round of AFC qualifying. They are one of the eight members of the AFC who will qualify for the tournament, and there is an inter-continental barrage open to one of the group’s fourth group finalists.
There will be nine African representatives at the tournament at the rear of the historic campaign in Morocco in 2022. The nine winners of the group in qualifying CAF will all qualify, and there is a place in the inter-continental qualifiers for one of the four most efficient finalists.
New Zealand has returned to the World Cup via the qualification of OFC, while New Caledonia will be involved in the intercontinental qualifiers. Australia will seek to join their ocean neighbors in North America, but they have work to do in their AFC qualification group.
Australia and New Zealand participated in the same World Cup only once before (2010).
The first World Cup of 48 teams will rightly be held in North America, the United States, Canada and Mexico all organized matches in the tournament. 11 of the 16 places that have the host are in the United States, with three Mexican cities and two Canadian cities that also welcome.
2026 is the first North American World Cup since the United States organized the tournament in 1994 and the first to be held on three countries.
The Metlife Stadium, which houses the Giants and Jets of New York, was selected to welcome the final on July 19.
