Who has qualified for the 2026 World Cup? Japan become first nation to join hosts as England start campaign

England get their World Cup qualifying campaign underway this Friday but countries have already booked their place on the plane. The Three Lions begin the journey to the 2026 tournament against Albania, live on talkSPORT, in the first match under Thomas Tuchel. England crashed out of the 2022 World Cup to eventual runners-up FranceGetty World Cup host nations Canada, Mexico and the United States are all guaranteed their spot in the expanded FIFA showpiece. On Thursday, Japan became the first non-host team to qualify with three games to spare in the third round of Asian qualification. The Samurai Blue beat Bahrain 2-0 to seal the first of eight spots reserved for Asian Football Confederation members. Who has qualified for the 2026 World Cup? Hosts Canada Mexico United States of America AFC Japan CAF TBC CONCACAF TBC CONMEBOL TBC OFC TBC Play-offs TBC Japan have reached their eighth consecutive World CupGetty How many qualify and how does it work? The 2026 World Cup will be the first in FIFA history to see 48 teams be part of the tournament next summer. Three of those are the hosts, Canada, Mexico and the USA, with a further 43 qualifying directly. The final two spots will come from the respective winners of the inter-confederation play-offs. The six playoff teams will be divided up by their FIFA World Ranking, with the top two seeds going straight into one of the two finals. AFC: eight direct slots and one play-off slot. CAF: nine direct slots and one play-off slot. CONCACAF: three direct slots, three host slots and two play-off slots. CONMEBOL: six direct slots and one play-off slot. OFC: one direct slot and one play-off slot. UEFA: 16 direct slots and zero play-off slots. There will be major changes from the World Cup in Qatar World Cup 2026: Dates The 2026 World Cup will get underway on Thursday, June 11, 2026, and run until the final on Sunday, July 19. FIFA is eager to keep the tournament’s ‘footprint’ to 57 days meaning there would be 16 days of preparation and then 39 days of competition. That would mean an earlier finish to the European domestic season but it remains to be seen how FIFA will slot everything in.

Mar 20, 2025 - 19:28

England get their World Cup qualifying campaign underway this Friday but countries have already booked their place on the plane.

The Three Lions begin the journey to the 2026 tournament against Albania, live on talkSPORT, in the first match under Thomas Tuchel.

World Cup host nations Canada, Mexico and the United States are all guaranteed their spot in the expanded FIFA showpiece.

On Thursday, Japan became the first non-host team to qualify with three games to spare in the third round of Asian qualification.

The Samurai Blue beat Bahrain 2-0 to seal the first of eight spots reserved for Asian Football Confederation members.

Hosts

AFC

CAF

CONCACAF

CONMEBOL

OFC

Play-offs

The 2026 World Cup will be the first in FIFA history to see 48 teams be part of the tournament next summer.

Three of those are the hosts, Canada, Mexico and the USA, with a further 43 qualifying directly.

The final two spots will come from the respective winners of the inter-confederation play-offs.

The six playoff teams will be divided up by their FIFA World Ranking, with the top two seeds going straight into one of the two finals.

The 2026 World Cup will get underway on Thursday, June 11, 2026, and run until the final on Sunday, July 19.

FIFA is eager to keep the tournament’s ‘footprint’ to 57 days meaning there would be 16 days of preparation and then 39 days of competition.

That would mean an earlier finish to the European domestic season but it remains to be seen how FIFA will slot everything in.