Sports
16 Jul, 2025
Joining the World Cup qualifiers = the path to securing a World Cup football ticket! At least 200 countries worldwide will participate.
If you are totally clueless about the World Cup qualifier structure, you must read till the end!
Clearly tell you how many countries are playing? How many teams qualify? How many rounds in total? When will the qualifiers end? Only takes 3 minutes to make you become a football genius.
The FIFA World Cup is held once every 4 years. Before the main tournament, Qualifiers are conducted to let countries around the world compete for World Cup spots.
For the 2026 World Cup, there will be 48 teams in total. 3 host countries - Canada, Mexico, and the USA - will directly qualify.
Remaining 45 spots must be earned through the Qualifiers.
As the number of participating teams increases, the World Cup Qualifiers are also taking more time to complete.
The matches began on 7th September 2023 and are expected to continue until March 2026.
Every regions have different times of start and end of the qualifiers!
There are 6 football confederations in total.
The number of rounds depends on how many teams are in each region.
Some regions have 1 round, some have 2, while others have up to 3 rounds plus a play-off round (which means 4 stages in total).
Over 200 countries around the world want to take part in the World Cup, but only 48 teams can reach the final tournament.
The number of countries playing in the Qualifiers depends on the region.
For example, Asia has 46 teams, while Europe has even more.
All teams first compete within their own continent. Only the winning teams from each region can earn a World Cup ticket.
The number of tickets (spots) given to each region is different!
There are 48 tickets in total (one per country).
After giving direct entry to the 3 host nations - USA, Canada, and Mexico - 45 spots remain.
These 48 tickets are distributed across the six football confederations:
| Region | Number of World Cup Spots |
|---|---|
| Europe | 16 |
| Africa | 9 |
| Asia | 8 |
| South America | 6 |
| North & Central America | 6 (including 3 host nations) |
| Oceania | 1 |
| Others | 2 (intercontinental play-off winners) |
It varies by region, but on average, each team plays between 4 and 14 matches.
Each confederation has its own format – some use group round-robin, others use knockout rounds.
The exact number of matches depends on the region and how far the team progresses.
The qualifiers usually follow a "home-and-away" format, meaning the two national teams play one match in each other's country.
The World Cup qualifier venues are not designated by FIFA but chosen by each country!
India finished 3rd place in their group during the second round of the 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, which means they are officially eliminated. (They played a total of 6 matches.)
Under the AFC Qualifier format, India needed to finish at least 2nd in the group to move on - but since they placed 3rd, they are not advancing to the third round.
| Rank | Country | Why They’re in the Spotlight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentina | Messi is still playing; they are the defending World Cup champions |
| 2 | Portugal | As long as Ronaldo is there, the hype never ends |
| 3 | Brazil | Everyone’s watching Neymar; their qualifiers feel like World Cup matches |
| 4 | France | Led by Mbappé; 2022 runners-up and masters of comebacks |
| 5 | England | Young stars rising – Foden, Bellingham, and Kane in top form |
| 6 | Italy | 4-time champions but missed the last two World Cups |
| 7 | Japan | Asia’s top technical team; 7-time World Cup participants |
| 8 | South Korea | Led by Son Heung-min, famous for big upsets |
| 9 | Australia | Qualified 5 times in a row; Socceroos are strong fighters |
| 10 | Saudi Arabia | Shocked Argentina in 2022; qualified 6 times |
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