Final 6 places for 2026 World Cup decided: play-off schedule | OneFootball

There will be 16 teams taking part in the intercontinental playoffs worldwide. Only six will manage to qualify for the World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

With 78 days to go before the start of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, the playoff matches will be played to determine the final qualifiers for the tournament, which will feature its revamped format with an increased number of participating teams.

The era of 32 teams is now history, as FIFA decided that starting with this edition there will be 48 national teams competing for the coveted trophy, with Argentina entering as defending champion.

With that clear, the final six spots remain to be decided to fill out the field. However, it will not be easy, considering that 16 countries will compete for those places, including Italy and Bolivia.

The Italy national team (absent from the Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 editions) will try to return to the World Cup, but to do so it must first beat Northern Ireland this Thursday at home, and then get through another playoff tie (on Tuesday the 31st) against the winner of Wales vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The other European qualifiers will come from the matchups between Poland or Albania vs. Ukraine or Sweden; Slovakia or Kosovo vs. Turkey or Romania; and the Czech Republic or Ireland vs. Denmark or North Macedonia.

As for South America, Bolivia will try to return to a World Cup after 32 years. It will first face Suriname this Thursday, and if it advances, it will take on Iraq in the final of the “three-team playoff,” which will be held in Monterrey, Mexico.

The sixth qualifier from this intercontinental playoff will be decided in Guadalajara. There, New Caledonia will face Jamaica. The winner will then take on DR Congo.

Friday the 27th

Tuesday the 31st

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.