World Cup 2026 qualifying Cape Verde, Senegal and South Africa on brink of spots - BBC Sport.txt
World_Cup_2026_Which_countries_have_qualified_for_the_tournament_-_BBC_Sport.txt
Cape Verde on blaze slim pretobrink of 2026 World Cup - who has qualified so far?Published5 June 2025Updated 10 September 2025Eighteen of the 48 places at the 2026 World Cup have been decided - and some of the remaining spots could go to history-makers.Cape Verde need a win from either of their last two qualifiers to book their place in the finals.That would be their first ever appearance at the group stage and make them the second smallest nation by population - behind Iceland in 2018 - to qualify for a World Cup.New Calendonia would supplant them should they qualify from the inter-confederation play-offs, which will feature five other teams including Bolivia.Tunisia were one of five nations to qualify for next summer's tournament in September following a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea.Joint hosts Canada, Mexico and the United States were all granted automatic qualification for the World Cup.Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea and Uzbekistan have already qualified from Asia.Oceania's one direct qualification spot has been taken by New Zealand.Tunisia join Morocco as the two African teams who have so far confirmed qualification. Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay and Colombia are the South American nations currently guaranteed a place.Uzbekistan and Jordan will also be playing at a World Cup finals for the first time.Teams through to 2026 World CupHosts: Canada, Mexico, United States.Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Uzbekistan.Oceania: New Zealand.South America: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia.Africa: Morocco, Tunisia.Get in touchSend us your questionsContact formContact formHow does World Cup qualifying work?Each of Fifa's six confederations use different methods of qualification to determine which nations out of each continent qualify for the World Cup.Oceania is currently the only continent to have completed its direct qualification process for next year's World Cup.Of the 48 teams at the tournament, three places are given to the host nations and 43 of them are earned via direct qualification from the six confederations.The other two spots are determined via the results of the intercontinental play-offs.South AmericaImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Brazil are the only nation to have featured at every World Cup in the competition's historyQualifying places: Six, plus one into intercontinental play-offsTeams already through: Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, ColombiaSouth American qualifying comprises a big group involving all 10 teams playing 18 games each, which started in September 2023.The top six all reach the World Cup, with seventh place going into the intercontinental play-offs.With their qualifying now over, Bolivia beat Brazil 1-0 in the final round of games to reach the intercontinental play-offs.AsiaQualifying places: Eight, plus one into intercontinental play-offsTeams already through: Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, AustraliaAsian qualifying started in October 2023 with the lower-ranked teams in action.In the third round, the top two teams in three different groups qualified automatically.Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan and Australia have secured their spots.UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are in a fourth round of qualifying and two of those will also qualify automatically in October, with one other side progressing into the intercontinental play-offs in November.AfricaQualifying places: Nine, plus one into intercontinental play-offsTeams already through: Morocco, TunisiaThere are nine African groups of World Cup qualifying, each with six teams, which started in November 2023.The top team in each group go through automatically - with Morocco and Tunisia the first two to guarantee their places. The other current leaders are Egypt, DR Congo, South Africa, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Algeria and Ghana.The final two rounds of group fixtures take place during October's international break.The best four runners-up go into play-offs in November for the chance to compete in the intercontinental play-offs.North, Central American and CaribbeanImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Mauricio Pochettino will lead the United States in their first World Cup as a host nation since 1994Qualifying places: Six (including three hosts), plus two into intercontinental play-offsTeams already through: None through qualifying - USA, Canada and Mexico automatically as co-hostsThe Concacaf qualifying takes a different look, with three of their biggest hitters not involved as they have qualified as hosts - but still plenty of spots up for grabs.Twelve teams are involved in a third round of qualifying which started this month.The winners of each group go to the World Cup and the two best-ranked runners-up going into the intercontinental play-offs.Suriname, Jamaica and Honduras lead the three groups after the first two rounds of group matches.EuropeQualifying places: 16Teams already through: NoneThere are 12 groups - with the winners of each group qualifying for the World Cup and the 12 runners-up going into play-offs with the four best-ranked Uefa Nations League group winners that have not already qualified - for four extra places.Europe is the only continent that does not have a team in the intercontinental play-offs.Qualifying started in March - with some teams not even playing their first qualifiers until this month because of the Nations League.The groups end in November, with the play-offs in March 2026.Slovakia, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Norway, North Macedonia, England and Croatia are the current group stage leaders.OceaniaQualifying places: One, plus one nation into intercontinental play-offsTeams already through: New ZealandOceania qualifying has already ended - with New Zealand beating New Caledonia 3-0 in the final.New Zealand go through to the World Cup automatically, as a result of the expanded World Cup. Oceania usually only gets a play-off spot.New Caledonia, a French overseas territory, will take place in intercontinental play-offs in March 2026 - featuring teams from Africa, Asia, South America and North America - with two out of six teams going through.Who is on the brink of qualifying?Asia's next two places will be confirmed in October, with the winners of the two fourth-round groups qualifying.England will secure qualification next month if they beat Latvia, and Serbia drop points in either of their matches against Albania and Andorra.In Africa, seven places will be decided in October from the final two rounds of qualification matches.Egypt need two points from their final two qualifiers against Djibouti and Guinea-Bissau to book their place at the World Cup.Senegal need to win both matches or hope Democratic Republic of Congo drop points in their last two games in Group B.South Africa need four points from their last two matches, with Benin, Nigeria and Rwanda all mathematically able to still win Group C.In Group D, a win for Cape Verde in either of their matches against Libya and Eswatini would take them through.In Group F, a point separates Ivory Coast and Gabon going into the last two matches. Maximum points for Ivory Coast would guarantee their place, while any dropped points could allow Gabon to overtake them.A win for Algeria in their penultimate match against Somalia would book them a first World Cup spot since 2014.Ghana would guarantee a place ahead of Madagascar and Comoros if they pick up four points from their final matches against Comoros and the Central African Republic.Two places will go to the six teams in the intercontinental play-offs that are played in March 2026. Bolivia and New Caledonia are the confirmed entrants so far.This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.What is Ask Me Anything?Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions.We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do.The team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and pundits.We will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting events.Our coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio.More questions answered...What number will Donnarumma wear at Man City?Which Premier League players could feature at Afcon?When does the January transfer window open?Why can Chelsea sell players to Strasbourg?Related topicsFootballFIFA World Cup
