ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) — 6th place in final standings 2026 world cup This will be determined by two playoff tournaments held in March.
Four more teams will qualify from Europe and two from the rest of the world.
16 countries participate in the UEFA Playoffs and 6 countries participate in the FIFA Intercontinental Playoffs.
The successful team will join 42 other countries and qualify for the World Cup, which will be held in the United States, Canada and Mexico from June to July.
Here’s what you need to know about the playoffs.
european playoffs
The 12 players who made it through the European qualifying group advanced to the playoffs. A further four teams advanced from the UEFA Nations League as top group winners from the UEFA Nations League who did not make it to the top two teams in their European qualifying groups.
Group runners-up: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Czech Republic, Denmark, Italy, Kosovo, Poland, Ireland, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine, Wales.
Nations League group winners: Romania, Sweden, Northern Ireland and North Macedonia.
Teams will participate in a seeding draw from four pots based on the FIFA ranking positions of the 12 runner-up teams. The top eight teams will earn seeding rights. The bottom four teams and the Nations League qualifiers will be unseeded.
The top four teams in Pot 1 are guaranteed a place in the semi-finals with a Nations League qualifier. There will be a total of eight games in the semi-finals, with seeded teams tied at home.
Seed Teams: (Pot 1) Italy, Denmark, Türkiye, Ukraine. (Pot 2) Poland, Wales, Czech Republic, Slovakia.
The winners of the semi-finals will advance to the final four games to determine which team will qualify for the World Cup.
The semi-finals will be held on March 26th and the final on March 31st.
intercontinental playoffs
The Intercontinental Playoff Tournament will bring together six teams from around the world to compete for two spots.
Two teams from CONCACAF and one team each from Asia, Africa, South America and Oceania will participate.
Playoff teams:
AFC – Iraq
CAF – Congo
CONCACAF – Jamaica, Suriname
CONMEBOL – Bolivia
OFC – New Caledonia
The top two teams, Iraq and Congo, will be seeded and automatically advance to one of the two playoff finals.
The bottom four teams are unseeded and are drawn to play in two semifinals, with the winners advancing to one of the two playoff finals.
The two teams that win in the finals will qualify for the World Cup.
The International Playoffs will be held from March 23rd to 31st.
world cup draw
The World Cup draw will be held in Washington, D.C., on December 5th, before the teams advancing to the playoffs are determined.
The World Cup begins on June 11th, with the final scheduled for July 19th.
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James Robson is https://x.com/James Saran Robson
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