World Cup 2026 qualifying state of play: Who can qualify? Who might miss out? Who will make play-offs and use UEFA Nations League spot?
Updated 19/11/2025 at 08:28 GMT
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Qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup is drawing to a close. The final rounds of qualifying fixtures take place over the next week, with 16 spots at the World Cup still available. Who can still qualify? Who might miss out? And who can qualify via the play-offs and UEFA Nations League? We run through everything you need to know as World Cup qualifying wraps up.
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The draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will take place early next month in Washington DC.
There will be 48 teams in the pot on December 5, including England, who have already qualified, and hosts USA, Canada and Mexico. But who else will be at the World Cup?
The last international break of the year will see nations book their place at the tournament and others miss out (but still potentially have the chance to qualify via a UEFA Nations League spot - more on that later).
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How will it all shake out? We run through the qualifying picture for Europe and beyond.
Who has qualified for the World Cup?
More than half of the spots at the 2026 World Cup have been filled.
The 42 teams to have qualified so far are:
- Co-hosts: Canada, Mexico, USA
- AFC: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan
- CAF: Algeria, Cabo Verde, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
- CONMEBOL: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
- OFC: New Zealand
- UEFA: England, France, Croatia, Portugal, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland
- CONCACAF: Curacao, Haiti, Panama
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Who will qualify from Europe?
Only the group winners qualify automatically from the 12 groups in Europe.
The 12 runners-up and the four best Nations League group winners, based on the Nations League overall ranking, go into the play-offs in March.
The first tie-breaker in all the groups if teams finish level on points is goal difference.
Germany qualified for the World Cup as winners of Group A after thrashing Slovakia 6-0 on Monday night, with their opponents finishing in second place and heading to the play-offs as a seeded team.
Northern Ireland knew they were already guaranteed a World Cup play-off, as an unseeded UEFA Nations League group winner, before defeating Luxembourg in their final group fixture on Monday.
They will have an away semi-final against a Pot 1 team, which could be Italy.
| Group A | Games played | Goal difference | Points |
| Germany | 6 | +13 | 15 |
| Slovakia | 6 | -2 | 12 |
| Northern Ireland | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| Luxembourg | 6 | -12 | 0 |
Switzerland still lead the way in Group B on 13 points, ahead of Kosovo on 10, and their 4-1 victory over Graham Potter's Sweden has all-but guaranteed a place at the World Cup due to their far superior goal difference.
Kosovo face Switzerland in their final group game on November 18 knowing that in all likelihood they must settle for a play-off spot.
It has been a disastrous campaign for Sweden, who have at least guaranteed spot in March's play-offs, thanks to their UEFA Nations League position.
| Group B | Games played | Goal difference | Points |
| Switzerland | 6 | +12 | 14 |
| Kosovo | 6 | +1 | 11 |
| Slovenia | 6 | -5 | 4 |
| Sweden | 6 | -8 | 2 |
In Group C, Scotland dramatically beat Denmark in a winner-takes-all tie for automatic World Cup qualification on Tuesday at Hampden Park.
It came after Steve Clarke's side were beaten 3-2 in Greece while the Danes were surprisingly held to a 2-2 draw at home to Belarus.
| Group C | Games played | Goal difference | Points |
| Scotland | 6 | +6 | 13 |
| Denmark | 6 | +9 | 11 |
| Greece | 6 | -2 | 7 |
| Belarus | 6 | -13 | 2 |
France secured top spot in Group D and subsequent qualification with a 4-0 win over Ukraine.
The battle for a play-off place went to the wire, and resulted in Ukraine leapfrogging Iceland into second after the final round of matches with a 2-0 victory.
| Group D | Games played | Goal difference | Points |
| France | 6 | +12 | 16 |
| Ukraine | 6 | -1 | 10 |
| Iceland | 6 | +2 | 7 |
| Azerbaijan | 6 | -13 | 1 |
Spain secured automatic qualification in Group E with a thrilling 2-2 draw against second-placed Turkey on Tuesday.
Their far superior goal difference of 14 over Turkey meant the reigning European champions would have had to lose 7-0 at home in the final game between both sides to miss out on a guaranteed spot at the World Cup.
| Group E | Games played | Goal difference | Points |
| Spain | 6 | +19 | 16 |
| Turkey | 6 | +5 | 13 |
| Georgia | 6 | -8 | 3 |
| Bulgaria | 6 | -16 | 3 |
Portugal confirmed their place as Group F winners after annihilating Armenia 9-1 on Sunday, as a three-way battle for the top places reached its crescendo.
However, the real drama came in Budapest when Troy Parrott's hat-trick - including a stoppage-time winner - sealed a dramatic 3-2 win for Ireland over Hungary to snatch second place and a spot in the play-offs.
| Group F | Games played | Goal difference | Points |
| Portugal | 6 | +13 | 13 |
| Republic of Ireland | 6 | +2 | 10 |
| Hungary | 6 | +1 | 8 |
| Armenia | 6 | -16 | 3 |
In Group G, Netherlands confirmed their place at the World Cup after beating Lithuania 4-0 in Amsterdam on Monday night.
Poland, who won 3-2 in Malta in the final round of fixtures, must settle for a play-off spot as a seeded nation.
| Group G | Games played | Goal difference | Points |
| Netherlands | 8 | +23 | 20 |
| Poland | 8 | +7 | 17 |
| Finland | 8 | -6 | 10 |
| Malta | 8 | -15 | 5 |
| Lithuania | 8 | -9 | 3 |
Austria topped Group H by two points, ahead of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after the two teams drew 1-1 on Tuesday.
Austria beat Cyprus 2-0 on Saturday, while Bosnia and Herzegovina overcame Romania 3-1, setting up a mouth-watering winner-takes-all clash in Vienna.
| Group H | Games played | Goal difference | Points |
| Austria | 8 | +18 | 19 |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | 8 | +10 | 17 |
| Romania | 8 | +9 | 13 |
| Cyprus | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| San Marino | 8 | -37 | 0 |
Norway qualified for their first World Cup since 1998 after a superb 4-1 win over Italy, with Erling Haaland scoring twice at San Siro.
They finished six points clear of Gennaro Gattuso's side, who must settle for a place in the play-offs.
| Group I | Games played | Goal difference | Points |
| Norway | 8 | +32 | 24 |
| Italy | 8 | +9 | 18 |
| Israel | 8 | -1 | 12 |
| Estonia | 8 | -13 | 4 |
| Moldova | 8 | -27 | 1 |
Belgium topped Group J but were made to wait until Tuesday to confirm their spot at next year's World Cup, when they beat Liechtenstein 7-0 in Liege.
Wales, meanwhile, knew they had to beat North Macedonia to secure a home play-off tie, and did so emphatically, winning 7-1 in Cardiff to ensure they finished as runners-up.
| Group J | Games played | Goal difference | Points |
| Belgium | 8 | +15 | 15 |
| Wales | 8 | +10 | 16 |
| North Madedonia | 8 | +3 | 13 |
| Kazakhstan | 8 | -4 | 8 |
| Liechtenstein | 8 | -31 | 0 |
England won Group K, with Albania securing second place with a 1-0 win over Andorra.
The Three Lions completed a perfect campaign after a 2-0 win over Albania on November 16, becoming only the second European team to have a 100% record in World Cup qualifying without conceding after Yugoslavia in qualifying for the 1954 finals.
| Group K | Games played | Goal difference | Points |
| England | 8 | +22 | 24 |
| Albania | 8 | +2 | 14 |
| Serbia | 8 | -1 | 13 |
| Latvia | 8 | -10 | 5 |
| Andorra | 8 | -13 | 1 |
Croatia's 3-1 victory over the Faroes guaranteed their place at the World Cup as they can no longer be caught by Czech Republic in Group L.
Zlatko Dalic's side celebrated their success with a 3-2 win at neighbours Montenegro on Monday night.
The Czechs are assured of a play-off spot, and thrashed Gibraltar 6-0 in their final group match.
| Group L | Games played | Goal difference | Points |
| Croatia | 8 | +22 | 22 |
| Czech Republic | 8 | +10 | 16 |
| Faroe Islands | 8 | +2 | 12 |
| Montenegro | 8 | -9 | 9 |
| Gibraltar | 8 | -25 | 0 |
Who can qualify via the Nations League?
Even if teams miss out on the 2026 World Cup via qualifying, all is not lost.
There are still four spots available to the best-ranked group winners of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League that do not finish in first or second place in a World Cup qualifying group.
Northern Ireland and Sweden have benefitted from the Nations League route as they were group winners.
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Romania will also use their play-off spot as Nations League group winners, as they can no longer secure a top-two place in Group H.
Wales have the safety net of securing a play-off place via this route ahead of their final qualifier against North Macedonia on Tuesday.
The 2024/25 Nations League group winners were: Portugal, France, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, England, Norway, Wales, Sweden, Romania, Northern Ireland, North Macedonia, San Marino and Moldova.
CAF and CONCACAF spots up for grabs
Nine African teams have confirmed their places at the World Cup, with DR Congo set to compete in the interconfederation play-offs in March.
DR Congo secured a dramatic 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory over Nigeria, with the score level at 1-1 after extra time.
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In CONCACAF, there are three groups of four teams, with the winners securing spots at the World Cup and the top two runners-up going into the intercontinental play-offs.
In a dramatic evening of decisive CONCACAF action, Curacao, Panama and Haiti secured their spots at next year's World Cup. That left Jamaica and Suriname's fate to next year's intercontinental play-off.
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