The 2026 FIFA World Cup will feature 48 teams, with thirteen already qualified and the remaining 35 spots being contested in the qualifying rounds by teams from six continents. Participating teams come from Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America, and Oceania.
Table of Contents
After the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification, 48 teams will qualify for the Final round of the World Cup tournament. In the 2026 FIFA World Cup Group Stage, all the qualified teams will be divided into 12 groups. All 48 nations will be prepared for the World’s biggest sports event from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Here you can find the 2026 FIFA World Cup Teams List.
The 23rd FIFA World Cup will mark the first time the tournament is hosted in North America, with Canada, Mexico, and the United States sharing the honour, making it the first edition to be held across three nations.
The United States is also gearing up to host the world’s top Football Clubs world Cup just before the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup. The 2025 Club World Cup will be held in the United States from June 14 to July 13, 2025, with 32 teams participating, and the tournament format will be similar to the World Cup. In this format, Chelsea won the final match against PSG.
Canada, Mexico, and the United States teams automatically qualified for the tournament as hosts. All the co-hosts of the FIFA World cup 2026 teams are placed in different groups, where the Mexican football team is placed in Group A, Canada is placed in Group B and the US soccer team is placed in Group D.
Japan was the first team from Asia, Argentina from CONMEBOL and New Zealand from OFC have qualify for the World Cup 2026 Schedule list, and all the remaining teams will be finalised after the 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualification Process.
The 2026 FIFA World cup dates for the group stage matches and knockout stage have been released for the FIFA World Cup 2026 participating teams.
For the first time in soccer history, the 2026 World Cup will see the participation of 48 teams, an expansion of 16 compared with the previous 7 World Cups since 1998.
The matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026 will take place in 16 stadiums spread across 16 host cities in North America.
2026 FIFA World Cup Teams
- AFC (Asia): 8 direct spots and 1 inter-confederation play-off place
- CAF (Africa): 9 direct spots and 1 inter-confederation play-off place
- CONCACAF (North, Central America, and the Caribbean): 6 direct spots and 2 inter-confederation playoff places
- CONMEBOL (South America): 6 direct spots and one inter-confederation play-off place
- OFC (Oceania): 1 direct spot and 1 inter-confederation play-off place
- UEFA (Europe): 16 Teams
- Hosts: 3 (Canada, Mexico, and the United States). The 3 host countries will automatically qualify for the tournament.
The qualified teams for the 2026 FIFA World Cup are organized into a group stage format with 12 groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group advance to the tournament’s knockout stage. FIFA 2026 World Cup draw set to be held in Las Vegas in December 5, 2025 at the Kennedy Center.
As part of the World Cup qualification process, 580 matches have already been played. The remaining teams are competing for the last slots in the tournament from six FIFA confederations. Below is the list of teams qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Ecuador became the 13th and latest team to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. A total of 68 teams have been eliminated from the tournament out of 206 participating teams.
Here is a list of Qualified nations for the 2026 World Cup –
| S No | Country | Qualification Method | Confederation | Current FIFA Rank | Previous best performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | Hosts | CONCACAF | 16 | Third place (1930) |
| 2 | Mexico | Hosts | CONCACAF | 17 | Quarter-finals (1970, 1986) |
| 3 | Canada | Hosts | CONCACAF | 31 | Group stage (1986, 2022) |
| 4 | Japan | AFC Group C Qualification | AFC | 15 | Round of 16 (2002, 2010, 2018, 2022) |
| 5 | Iran | AFC Group A Qualification | AFC | 18 | Group stage |
| 6 | New Zealand | OFC 3rd round Winner | OFC | 89 | Group stage (1982, 2010) |
| 7 | Argentina | CONMEBOL – Top 6 | CONMEBOL | 1 | Winner (1978, 1986, 2022) |
| 8 | Uzbekistan | AFC Group A Qualification | AFC | 57 | Debut |
| 9 | South Korea | AFC Group B Qualification | AFC | 23 | Fourth place (2002) |
| 10 | Jordan | AFC Group B Qualification | AFC | 62 | Debut |
| 11 | Australia | AFC Group C Qualification | AFC | 26 | Round of 16 (2006, 2022) |
| 12 | Brazil | CONMEBOL – Top 6 | CONMEBOL | 5 | Winners (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002) |
| 13 | Ecuador | CONMEBOL – Top 6 | CONMEBOL | 24 | Round of 16 (2006) |
UEFA (Europa): 16 Teams
- Total Teams – 54
- Teams Qualified – 0
- Qualifying Start Date – 21 March 2025
- Qualifying End Date – 31 March 2026
CONCACAF (North, Central America, and the Caribbean Confederation): 6 Teams + 2 spots
- Total Teams – 32
- Teams Qualified – 03
- Canada, Mexico and the United States (As a host qualified in the list of 2026 FIFA World Cup Teams)
- Qualifying Start Date – 22 March 2024
- Three Rounds (First round Completed, and Second round is Running)
- Qualifying End Date – November 2025
CONEMBOL (South America): 6 Teams + 1 spot
- Total Teams– 10
- Teams Qualified – 3 (Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador)
- Qualifying Start Date – 7 September 2023
- Qualifying End Date – September 2025
AFC (Asian Football Confederation): 8 teams +1 spot
- Total Teams– 10
- Teams Qualified
- 6 (Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Australia and Jordan)
- Qualifying Start Date – 12 October 2023
- Four Rounds (First, Second, and Third rounds Completed, and the AFC Fourth Round is Running)
- Qualifying End Date – September 2025
CAF (Africa ): 9 Teams + 1 spot
- Total Teams– 53
- Teams Qualified – 0
- Qualifying Start Date – 15 November 2023
- Qualifying End Date – November 2025
OFC (Oceanian Section): 1 Team + 1 spot
- Total Teams– 11
- Teams Qualified
- 1 (New Zealand)
- Qualifying Start Date – 6 September 2024
- Qualifying End Date – 24 March 2025
Team-based camps
FIFA have launched many team-based camps. Here is the List of the Team Base Camps for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States.
Tournament Format Details
- Draw – 12 groups of 4 teams.
- The top two teams from each group, plus the 8 best third-placed teams, will qualify for the Round of 32.
- Total of 104 matches (compared to 64 in 2022)
Notable Teams to Watch
- Brazil, Argentina, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and England are considered the top football teams.
- A few teams that could cause surprises, like Uzbekistan and Jordan
How many teams will play in the 2026 FIFA World Cup?
For the first time in World Cup history, 48 teams will compete in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Which teams have qualified for the World Cup 2026?
So far, the USA, Mexico, Canada, qualified as a co-host and Japan, Iran, Argentina, New Zealand, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Brazil, Ecuador and Jordan have qualified after the qualification process. Ecuador secured its spot as the 13th and most recent team to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
How many teams will qualify from each continent?
Asia (8), Africa (9), Europe (16), South America (6), North America (6), Oceania (1), and one play-off slot are the continents participating in qualification matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup teams.
Who are the host countries of the FIFA World Cup 2026?
Canada, Mexico, and the United States will combine to host 104 games of the FIFA World Cup 2026.
What is the FIFA World cup 2026 start date?
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will start on June 11, 2026, with the opening match in Mexico City. The tournament will run until July 19, 2026, across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
