Today, Monday, the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) released a report on the teams that failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.
The 2026 World Cup will see the participation of 48 teams, 16 more than in the last seven editions, including since 1998.
Eight teams directly from the Asian continent qualify for the World Cup, in addition to a seat in the continental qualifiers, against 9 direct seats for the African continent, in addition to a seat in the continental qualifiers.
As for CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), it will obtain 6 direct seats, as well as two seats for the continental playoffs, compared to 6 direct seats for the South American football continent, as well as one seat for the continental playoffs.
Oceania gets one direct seat and one seat for the continental qualifiers, while Europe gets 16 direct seats for the World Cup.
As for the non-qualified teams from the Asian Football Confederation, they are: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Taiwan, Guam, Hong Kong, Laos, Lebanon, Macau, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, East Timor, Turkmenistan and Yemen.
There are a total of five qualifying rounds to determine Asia’s eight direct places at the 2026 World Cup, with one additional team qualifying through the continental play-offs.
African Union
On the Confederation of African Football side, no team has yet been confirmed as excluded from the World Cup qualifiers.
53 countries compete in the Confederation of African Football in 8 groups, each comprising 6 teams, and one group comprising 5 teams after the withdrawal of Eritrea, and each group winner qualifies for the World Cup.
The top 4 second-placed teams advance to a playoff round to determine the continent’s sole representative in the playoffs.
As for the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Associations (CONCACAF), the eliminated teams are: the US Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Note that Canada, Mexico and the United States of America obtain automatic places, since they are the host countries of the tournament, which leaves 3 direct seats and two other possible places until the playoffs.
South America
As for the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), no team has yet officially guaranteed its exit from the World Cup qualifiers.
The South American qualifiers began on September 7, 2023 and will end in September 2025.
10 teams compete in a unique league system, where they compete against each other, and the teams that occupy the top six places will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the seventh-placed team will qualify for the playoffs.
As for the European Football Association (UEFA), it has not yet been officially confirmed that any team will leave the World Cup qualifiers, given that the qualifiers have not yet started and will begin in March 2025 and end in March 2026.
The first round will follow a familiar format, where 12 groups of 4 or 5 teams will be formed, and the leaders of each group will guarantee their place at the World Cup to determine the four remaining places on the Old Continent, a playoff tournament. will take place composed of 16 teams, and these are the 12 teams that won the second place in their group in the first round, and 4 other teams have the best ranking in the European Nations League.
Oceania
On the Oceania Football Confederation side, the eliminated teams are: Cook Islands, Tonga and American Samoa.
For the first time, Oceania will be guaranteed a place at the World Cup, with the possibility of securing another spot via the continental play-offs.
The first qualifying round took place in September 2024 and included the presence of the four lowest-ranked teams from the continent. After that, the second round will be played, which consists of two groups, each group containing 4 teams. The third and final round will be played between 4 teams in a semi-final and final format, which will determine Oceania’s representative at the World Cup and the continental qualifiers.