AFC On 1 August 2022, the
Asian Football Confederation Executive Committee approved the qualification format for Asia's road to the 2026 World Cup, as well as the
2027 AFC Asian Cup, in preparation for the eight direct spots and the single intercontinental slot allocated to the AFC by FIFA following the expansion of the FIFA World Cup to 48 teams. The draw for the first round was held on 27 July 2023 at the AFC House in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The draw for the second round took place two hours later. The qualification structure was as follows: •
First round: Twenty teams (ranked 27–46) played over
two legs. The ten winners advanced to the second round. •
Second round: Thirty-six teams (those ranked 1–26 and the ten winners) were divided into nine groups of four teams to play Round-robin tournament| matches. The eighteen group winners and group advanced to the third round. •
Third round: The eighteen teams that advanced from the second round were divided into three groups of six teams to play matches. The top two teams of each group qualified for the World Cup, while the and teams of each group advanced to the fourth round. •
Fourth round: The six teams that advanced from the third round were drawn into two groups of three teams each to play a single . The winners qualified for the World Cup, and the runners-up advanced to the fifth round. •
Fifth round: The fourth round group runners-up competed in a
two-legged tie that determined the Asian representation at the
.
Final positions (third round) Final positions (fourth round) Final positions (fifth round) The winner advanced to the
inter-confederation play-offs.
CAF The CAF Executive Committee announced a new African qualification format on 19 May 2023. The draw was held on 13 July 2023 in
Abidjan, Ivory Coast. All 54 FIFA-affiliated football associations from CAF entered qualification. Eritrea withdrew before matches began due to fears that players would seek political asylum abroad. The qualification structure was as follows: •
First round: Teams were drawn into nine groups of six teams to play home-and-away
round-robin matches. The winner of each group qualified for the World Cup. •
Second round: The four best-ranked group runners-up participated in a play-off to determine which team would advance to the
inter-confederation play-offs.
Final positions (first round) Due to Eritrea's withdrawal from qualification resulting in differing group sizes, results from matches against sixth-place teams were discounted when ranking group runners-up.
Final positions (second round) The teams were allocated into semi-finals based on their
FIFA Men's World Ranking of 17 October 2025, with the highest-ranked side taking on the lowest and the second-highest taking on the third-highest. The winner advanced to the
inter-confederation play-offs.
CONCACAF Three teams in CONCACAF—Canada, Mexico and the United States—automatically qualified as host nations. On 28 February 2023, CONCACAF announced the qualifying format for 2026 World Cup qualification. •
First round: Four CONCACAF teams, ranked 29 to 32 based on the
FIFA ranking of December 2023, were divided into two matchups to be played on a Two-legged tie| basis. The two winners advanced to the second round. •
Second round: Thirty teams – the two winners from the first round and CONCACAF teams ranked 1 to 28 based on the FIFA ranking of December 2023 – were drawn into six groups of five teams. They played single round-robin tournament| matches (two home and two away), with group winners and advancing to the third round. •
Third round: The twelve teams that advanced from the second round were drawn into three groups of four teams. They played double round-robin home-and-away matches, with the three group winners qualifying for the World Cup. The two advanced to the
.
Final positions (third round) CONMEBOL On 22 August 2022, CONMEBOL petitioned FIFA to keep the qualification format which had been used since the
1998 FIFA World Cup qualification, where all CONMEBOL members play round-robin tournament| matches against each other. This was approved, with the first games of the qualifiers played in September 2023. Before the qualification competition began,
Ecuador were penalized 3 points for using falsified birth documents for
Byron Castillo in the previous World Cup qualification cycle.
Final positions OFC The 2026 World Cup marked the first time OFC was granted one guaranteed slot, as well as a possible second slot via the
inter-confederation play-offs. The qualification structure was as follows: •
First round: The four lowest-ranked teams played a knockout round in September 2024. The winner, Samoa, advanced to the second round. •
Second round: The winning team from the first round joined the seven teams in two four-team groups in October and November 2024. The top two teams from each group advanced to the third round. •
Third round: The four teams advancing from the second round played a knockout round in March 2025. The winner, New Zealand, qualified for the World Cup, and the runner-up, New Caledonia, advanced to the .
Final positions (third round) The winner qualified for the World Cup, while the runner-up advanced to the
inter-confederation play-offs.
UEFA The UEFA Executive Committee announced a new European qualification format on 25 January 2023. Teams were drawn into twelve groups of four or five teams to play home-and-away
round-robin matches from March to November 2025. The group winners qualified for the World Cup, while the will participate in matches, for a total of 16 teams qualifying for the finals. The qualification draw took place on 13 December 2024 in
Zürich, Switzerland. Due to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine,
Russia's national team was suspended, and their exclusion was confirmed in a circular distributed by UEFA on 11 November 2024. •
First round (group stage): Twelve groups of either four or five teams were drawn, with group winners qualifying for the World Cup. •
Second round (play-off): Sixteen teams (twelve group runners-up and the four best Nations League group winners, based on the
2024–25 Nations League overall ranking, that finished outside the top two of their qualifying group) were drawn into four paths, playing two rounds of ( with the seeded teams hosting, followed by finals, with the home teams drawn from the semi-final pairings). The four path winners qualified for the World Cup.
Final positions (first round) Final positions (second round) The winners of each path qualified for the World Cup.
Path A Path B Path C Path D ==Inter-confederation play-offs==