2026 World Cup: Who’s In? Full List of Qualified Nations
By Crick tv
Created at Oct 05, 2025 01:08 PM
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be the first to include 48 teams in its last tournament — an increase from 32 — and will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada, and Mexico. They gain automatic spots as hosts.
Apart from the hosts, qualifying is ongoing in the different confederations (AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, OFC, UEFA), all competing for their respective slots. Currently, part of the available slots have already been secured. The following is a summary of who is “in” thus far and how.
Who Has Qualified So Far
Automatic by Host
United States
Canada
Mexico
From Asia / Oceania (AFC / OFC)
The Asian qualifying process has been on, and various countries have secured direct spots. The officially qualified countries from Asia as of now are Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, and Australia.
Meanwhile in Oceania, New Zealand came out successfully via its route to secure the region’s spot.
From Africa (CAF)
On the African side, two teams have qualified: Morocco and Tunisia. They are at the moment the only African countries to have qualified, although additional spots still are available in the African qualification round.
From South America (CONMEBOL)
In South America’s all-play-all qualification system, six teams qualify directly. The first six to qualify are Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Argentina was the first of them to seal their spot. Bolivia, who ended seventh, will play an inter-confederation playoff.
Total So Far and Continuing Contests
Currently, 15 of the 48 tournament spots are allocated (3 hosts + 12 via qualification). The remaining — 33 spots — will be determined by ongoing continental qualifiers and inter-confederation playoffs.
A bit more context by confederation:
Asia (AFC) has 8 direct qualifying spots and 1 inter-confederation playoff spot. Some of those direct spots are already spoken for.
Africa (CAF) has plenty of group rounds still to be played; only two of its nine spots are booked so far.
Europe (UEFA) has 16 spots booked, but none of the European teams have confirmed qualification as yet. Their qualification route extends to late 2025.
CONCACAF, excluding the hosts, has still more places to fight for within its region.
Oceania is complete for now with New Zealand claiming its spot.
In March 2026, there will be inter-confederation playoffs in North America to fill two remaining slots. Six teams — one from most confederations, and two from CONCACAF — will compete in a bracket system.
The Changing Landscape
Since qualification is still in progress particularly in Africa, Asia, and Europe, the definitive number of qualified countries will change between 2025 and into the early part of 2026. The inter-confederation playoff round introduces an air of uncertainty, allowing a couple more teams to secure one of the remaining places.
Therefore, although we currently know the hosts and a number of qualifiers (Japan, Iran, Australia, Morocco, Tunisia, Argentina, Brazil, etc.), more than two-thirds of the teams remain to be determined. With qualifying matches ongoing, more countries will secure their berths to the first expanded 48-team World Cup.