World Cup 2026 Qualification play-offs: The Last Spots Up for Grabs

With the majority of spots already secured for the expanded 48-team 2026 World Cup, attention now turns to the final few places still up for grabs. Set to take place in March 2026, the European and Inter-Confederation play-offs will provide the last moments of qualification action before the spotlight shifts to North America for the main tournament next summer.

The draw for the play-offs was held on November 20th in Zurich, establishing which teams will face each other on the final road to qualification. For fans of draw drama, December 5th is another important date in the tournament’s build-up as that is when the official draw for the World Cup group stages will take place at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. These are the 42 who have qualified so far with six remaining slots set to be filled:

Asian Football Confederation: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan

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

North America: Curacao, Haiti, Panama, Canada, Mexico, United States

South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay

Oceania: New Zealand

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

In the European play-offs, sixteen nations (10 group stage runners-up and the top four non-qualified Nations League teams) will battle it out for four World Cup spots from March 26th to March 31st. These teams have been split into Paths A-D with each path hosting two semi-finals and a final. These will be played in a single-leg format, with the teams as follows:

Path A: Italy vs Northern Ireland, and Wales vs Bosnia & Herzegovina
Path B: Sweden vs Ukraine, and Poland vs Albania
Path C: Turkey vs Romania, and Slovakia vs Kosovo
Path D: Denmark vs North Macedonia, and Czech Republic vs the Republic of Ireland

The winners of these games in each path will then face each other, with the winner securing a spot at football’s biggest competition.

The two final World Cup places will be decided through the Inter-Confederation play-offs. These are scheduled for March 2026 and will be played at venues in Mexico. Six teams from across various continents will meet to battle it out in four knockout matches. New Caledonia are playing Jamaica in the semi-final, with the winner then set to take on Congo for the first available spot. In the second semi-final, Bolivia lock horns against Suriname, with Iraq standing as the final hurdle to jump for the winner in the race for the last available ticket to the World Cup.

These final few rounds represent the end of a long road, and for some a rare chance to make it to football’s biggest stage. With limited places available, competition will be fierce, and no team will want to go down without a fight. Upon their conclusion at the end of March, we will know the full roster of teams taking part in the main event, set to kick off on June 11th.

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