The South American Football Confederation will kick off the World Cup qualifiers for the 2026 finals, to be held in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, starting on Thursday, with the participation of 48 teams for the first time in history. According to the decision ratified by the FIFA Council in 2017, the number of slots allocated to the six continental confederations is as follows:
- Asian Football Confederation: 8.5 slots (with one team qualifying for the intercontinental playoffs)
- African Football Confederation: 9.5 slots (with one team qualifying for the intercontinental playoffs)
- North, Central America, and Caribbean Football Confederation (CONCACAF): 6.5 slots (with two teams qualifying for the intercontinental playoffs)
- South American Football Confederation: 6.5 slots (with one team qualifying for the intercontinental playoffs)
- Oceania Football Confederation: 1.5 slots (with one team qualifying for the intercontinental playoffs)
- European Football Association: 16 slots
Here is the preliminary qualifying system according to the different continental federations:
**Asian Confederation**
Joint qualifiers for both the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup will start in October 2023, featuring a series of 10 two-legged matches between 20 Asian teams, with 10 teams advancing to the second round. This round will take place from November 2023 to June 2024 and includes nine groups of four teams each, where the top two teams from each group will advance to the final round of Asian qualification. The final qualifying phase will occur between September 2024 and June 2025, comprising three groups of six teams each. The top two teams from each group will qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup, while the third and fourth-placed teams will compete in an Asian playoff.
**African Confederation**
The first phase of the qualifiers will take place between November 2023 and October 2025, with teams divided into nine groups of six teams each. The winner from each group will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the best four second-place teams will advance to an African playoff in November 2025, consisting of two semi-final matches and a final that determines the team advancing to the intercontinental playoffs.
**CONCACAF**
Countries Canada, Mexico, and the USA will automatically qualify for the World Cup as host nations. The four lowest-ranked teams will each play two matches (home and away) in March 2024, with the winners advancing to the second phase of continental qualifiers in June 2024 and June 2025. The qualifiers will consist of six groups of five teams each, with the top two from each group proceeding to the final stage held from September to November 2025. In the final phase, three groups of four teams will compete, with group winners qualifying directly for the World Cup, while the two best second-placed teams will head to the intercontinental playoffs.
**South America**
The qualification matches will take place in a league format, where all ten teams will play home and away matches, concluding in September 2025. The top six teams will qualify directly for the World Cup, while the seventh-placed team will enter the intercontinental playoffs. The South American confederation has followed this league qualification format since the 1998 World Cup qualifying rounds.
**Oceania**
The qualifying process in Oceania consists of three phases, starting with the first phase in a single location in September 2024. It involves two knockout matches among the four lowest-ranked teams, with the winners proceeding to the decisive stage. In the second phase, eight teams are divided into two groups of four, competing in a league-style format in October and November 2024, where the top two from each group will advance to the third phase. This phase will occur in a single location in March 2025, featuring single semi-final matches, and the winners will compete in a decisive match to determine the team qualifying directly for the World Cup, while the losing team will head to the intercontinental playoffs.
**Europe**
The group stage consists of 12 groups of five or four teams, competing in a league format with home-and-away matches from March to November 2025. The group winners will qualify directly for the World Cup. The second-placed teams, along with the top four highest-ranked teams from the 2024-2025 UEFA Nations League that did not place first or second in their respective groups, will participate in a European playoff in March 2026. The 16 teams will be divided into four groups, each representing a qualification pathway of four teams, with the winners of the semi-finals from each path advancing to a decisive match to qualify for the World Cup 2026.
