World Cup 2026: Who has qualified? Full list of teams for USA, Canada and Mexico tournament
2026 World Cup takes place from June 11 to July 19 across three host nations; 48 teams will compete in expanded tournament, with 42 teams qualified already, including England and Scotland; six other places to be decided in March
Friday 27 March 2026 08:02, UK
Forty-two teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup so far, with six more places up for grabs at next summer's 48-team tournament.
Among those to have booked their place already are Curacao, with the Caribbean island becoming the smallest nation to qualify for a World Cup.
Curacao will join holders Argentina and home nations England and Scotland at the tournament, which is taking place across three host nations - Canada, Mexico and USA - from June 11 to July 19.
- N Ireland, Rep Ireland, Wales await World Cup play-offs - so how do they work?
- World Cup schedule, dates and venues
- World Cup fixtures and UK kick-off times
It will be the biggest yet, with 48 nations taking part - 16 more than in Qatar 2022. Here are the countries that have qualified so far for the tournament...
Who else can qualify?
There are six spots still to be decided, and four of those will be taken by European teams via UEFA's play-offs.
However, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Wales all failed to qualify via this route after losing in their semi-finals and won't be at this summer's tournament.
The other two remaining places at the World Cup will be taken by teams from the other confederations. Suriname and New Caledonia both suffered defeat in their play-off semi-finals. Jamaica and Bolivia will take on DR Congo and Iraq respectiviely in a battle for passage into the World Cup.
Who plays who in the play-offs?
Wales were beaten on penalties by Bosnia and Herzegovina while Republic of Ireland also suffered a shootout defeat to Czech Republic. Northern Ireland, meanwhile, lost 2-0 to Italy.
As Wales and Northern Ireland were drawn in the same path, the two nations could have met in the play-off final, but instead, Bosnia and Herzegovina will host Italy. The Czech Republic will play Denmark while Sweden host Poland and Turkey visit Kosovo in the other finals.
The finals take place on Tuesday March 31 with kick-off at 7.45pm.
World Cup qualifying play-off draw in full
Play-off Path A:
Semi-final: Italy 2-0 Northern Ireland
Semi-final: Wales 1-1 Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-4 on pens)
Final: Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Italy
Play-off Path B:
Semi-final: Ukraine 1-3 Sweden
Semi-final: Poland 2-1 Albania
Final: Sweden vs Poland
Play-off Path C:
Semi-final: Turkey 1-0 Romania
Semi-final: Slovakia 3-4 Kosovo
Final: Kosovo vs Turkey
Play-off Path D:
Semi-final: Denmark 4-0 North Macedonia
Semi-final: Czech Republic 2-2 Republic of Ireland (4-3 on pens)
Final: Czech Republic vs Denmark
Inter-confederation play-offs draw in full
Play-off Path A:
Semi-final: New Caledonia 0-1 Jamaica
Final: Jamaica vs Congo
Play-off Path B:
Semi-final: Bolivia 2-1 Suriname
Final: Bolivia vs Iraq
When is the 2026 World Cup draw?
The draw for the 2026 World Cup took place in Washington on December 5, with US President Donald Trump joining FIFA President Gianni Infantino to decide the group stage fixtures.
England will start their campaign against Croatia, while Scotland begin against Haiti.
World Cup 2026 match schedule
The full World Cup match schedule was released after the draw, with the opening game held in Mexico City.
The final will take place at the New York-New Jersey (MetLife) Stadium - home of the New York Giants and New York Jets.
Group stage: June 11-27
Round of 32: June 28 to July 3
Round of 16: July 4-7
Quarter-finals: July 9-11
Semi-finals: July 14-15
Third-place play-off ('Bronze final'): July 18
Final: July 19
