Which nations are close to qualifying for the World Cup and which could miss out on the tournament | OneFootball

The 2026 World Cup is only nine months away and the list of the 48 countries who will be involved is beginning to take shape.

The tournament is being hosted in America, Canada and Mexico and will run from June 11th to July 19th, with the draw for the event on December 5th. President Donald Trump will be involved.

The three host nations have qualified automatically. Elsewhere UEFA is guaranteed 16 slots, CAF gets nine spots, and AFC has eight. There will be a minimum of six each from CONMEBOL and CONCACAF, and OFC has a definite spot for the first time.

18 nations have qualified so far:

Host nations

Asia (AFC)

Oceania (OFC)

South America (CONMEBOL)

Africa (CAF)

Current situation around the globe

European teams (UEFA)

No European teams have yet qualified; although England, Norway, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina are all close to being confirmed as competing nations.

Only England and Norway have played five games and won them all in the European qualifiers.

Italy would have been in a precarious position had they lost or drawn against Israel, as they almost did before clinching a 5-4 win in the last minute. They have not been involved in a World Cup since 2014 and cannot afford to miss out again.

Wales are currently third in their group, with North Macedonia and Belgium ahead of them. As it stands they would not be at the World Cup, and it would be a huge disappointment to miss out to North Macedonia, who are 31 places behind them in the FIFA rankings.

African teams (CAF)

Morocco have won seven from seven games, and Tunisia seven from eight. Both have confirmed qualification.

Egypt, Senegal, South Africa, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Algeria and Ghana have all almost confirmed qualification.

Nigeria are in a dangerous position. They are third in their group, six points behind South Africa and three points behind second place Benin. They only have 11 points and are far off being one of the best second place teams. There is a very real chance that they will miss out on the World Cup.

Cameron are not in an unsalvageable position – second in their group – but are four points behind Cape Verde and just outside the list of the four best second place teams who will also automatically qualify.

South American teams (CONMEBOL)

South American qualifying is complete; CONMEBOL teams are all in one big group, and the top six teams are confirmed to be in the World Cup. They are listed above. Bolivia finished in seventh place and will now compete in the Inter-continental playoffs, which will be played in March 2026.

The only major surprise from CONMEBOL qualifying was that Chile missed out. They finished dead last out of the 10 teams and 17 points behind sixth place Paraguay.

Chile reached the last 16 of the World Cup in both 2010 and 2014, and were both times eliminated by Brazil.

Asian teams (AFC)

There are only two spots left for Asian teams, and the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia will fight for those.

The last two spots will be decided by splitting these six teams into two groups of three. They will play each other once, so two matches, in one host country in October.

The group winners then take the final two automatic places at the World Cup.

North and Central American teams (CONCACAF)

With three spots already taken thanks to the USA, Canada and Mexico co-hosting, CONCACAF could still have a further five teams qualifying the tournament. There are currently 12 teams in three groups of four vying over three automatic spots, as well as a further two spots in the FIFA Play-Off Tournament for the two best runners-up from the three groups.

Suriname and Honduras sit top of Group A and C with four points from their opening two matches, whilst Jamaica sit top of Group B after being the only side to win both of their games. Curacao and El Salvador are currently the two best runners-up with four and three points respectively, but there are another four matches to be played, with each side playing home and away against their three group opponents.

The likes of Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago and Panama are all still in with a chance of qualifying as well, with CONCACAF having the chance to have eight teams at a World Cup for the first time.