MADRID (AP) — Last six. World Cup venue This week will be determined by the results of two playoff tournaments. 48 team lineup.
Eight European teams will compete for four spots, while a new intercontinental tournament in Mexico will decide the remaining two spots.
The biggest World Cup in history will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico for the first time, increasing from 32 teams to be held in Qatar in 2022.
4 time champion Italy is an outstanding name They will avoid missing out on their third consecutive World Cup appearance and participate in the European playoffs.
european playoffs
The World Cup will feature more European teams than teams from any other continent: 16.
Eight teams will advance through the final round of the play-offs and compete for the final four spots in winner-take-all matches between Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Italy, Sweden vs. Poland, Kosovo vs. Turkey and Czech Republic vs. Denmark.
All four games will be played on Tuesday.
The winner of Türkiye vs. Kosovo will be placed in Group D, which already includes the United States, Paraguay and Australia.
intercontinental playoffs
There is another format for the intercontinental playoffs, which FIFA simply calls play-off tournaments.
Two teams out of six will advance.
The original lineup consisted of two teams from CONCACAF (Jamaica, Suriname) and one team each from Asia (Iraq), Africa (Congo), South America (Bolivia), and Oceania (New Caledonia).
Congo, Jamaica, Iraq and Bolivia advanced to the final two games. Congo will play Jamaica and Bolivia will play Iraq.
The finals will be held on Tuesday in Guadalajara and Monterrey.
Who qualified for the 2026 World Cup?
Co-sponsored by: Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan
Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
North America, Central America, Caribbean: Curacao, Haiti, Panama
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
Oceania: New Zealand
Europe: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland
When is the 2026 World Cup?
June and July. The tournament will open on June 11th at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, with the finals being played on July 19th at MetLife Stadium, which will be known as New York/New Jersey Stadium during the tournament.
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