MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Final six. World Cup venue Next week, we will aim to win two playoff tournaments. 48 team lineup.
Sixteen teams from Europe 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 participated in the European playoffs to avoid the stigma of missing out on the World Cup for three consecutive tournaments.
Coach Gennaro Gattuso said: “I can’t deny that we are nervous.” “Only people who don’t have blood flowing through their veins won’t feel it.”
New Caledonia, Suriname, Kosovo and Albania are all vying for their first World Cup appearance.
european playoffs
The World Cup will feature more European teams than teams from any other continent: 16.
Twelve players have already reserved their spots, with the final four making it to the playoffs.
There will be eight one-off semi-finals followed by four finals. The winner of the finals will qualify.
The teams will be made up of 12 runner-up teams from the group qualification stage and 4 teams based on their performance in the UEFA Nations League.
The top ranked team will host the semi-finals. The host country for the finals was determined by lottery.
Path A: Italy vs. Northern Ireland, Wales vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Path B: Ukraine vs. Sweden, Poland vs. Albania.
Path C: Türkiye vs Romania, Slovakia vs Kosovo.
Pass D: Denmark vs. North Macedonia, Czech Republic vs. Ireland
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 lineup consisted of two teams from CONCACAF (Jamaica, Suriname) and one team each from Asia (Iraq), Africa (Democratic Republic of Congo), South America (Bolivia), and Oceania (New Caledonia).
The bottom four countries will play in two semi-finals. The winner advances to the finals against one of the top two teams. The winners of those matches qualify for the World Cup.
The highest ranking countries were the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Iraq.
Matches will be held in Guadalajara and Monterrey
Pass 1: New Caledonia vs. Jamaica (winner faces Democratic Republic of Congo)
Pass 2: Bolivia vs. Suriname (winner plays Iraq)
When are the playoffs?
The semi-finals will be held on Thursday and the final will be held next Tuesday.
Who qualified for the 2026 World Cup?
Co-sponsored by: Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
AFC: Australia, IR Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan
CAF: Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia
CONCACAF: Curacao, Haiti, Panama
CONMEBOL: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
OFC: New Zealand
UEFA: 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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James Robson is https://x.com/James Saran Robson
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