42 teams confirmed for 2026 FIFA World Cup. 6 more spots up for grabs

Forty-two teams have qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup so far, with six more places up for grabs.

Next year’s tournament in Canada, Mexico, and the United States will be the biggest yet, with 48 countries taking part, 16 more than the previous 2022 tournament in Qatar.

Emotions ran high as the automatic qualification spots across Europe, Central America, and the Caribbean were sealed.

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Curacao became the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup, as Haiti booked their return ticket to the tournament for the first time in 52 years, alongside Panama.

The biggest upsets were delivered when former European champions Greece and African powerhouse Nigeria were knocked out of contention.

Four-time world champions Italy find themselves in the European playoffs in March 2026 alongside 15 other teams who will fight for four spots.

Here are the teams who have qualified so far:

Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia

Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan

Europe: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland

Oceania: New Zealand

Americas: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay, Curacao, Panama, Haiti, USA

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Focus also moves to the FIFA World Cup 26 draw, which takes place on 5 December.

The 48 teams will be divided into 12 groups of four teams each.

Before the draw, teams will be placed into four pots based on ranking.

Pot 1 includes the three host nations and the next nine highest-ranking teams who qualify

Pots 2 to 4 contain the remaining teams, ordered by ranking. 

Pot 4 will also include placeholders for teams that will qualify via the playoffs.

During the draw, one team from each pot goes into each group (A to L).

This is to ensure the draw is fair and balanced, preventing too many strong teams from ending up in the same group.