In a time when the number of international qualifiers has grown, qualifying formats have evolved in response. But one thing has remained unchanged: teams are still grouped into zones that roughly correspond to continents, and they compete for a limited number of berths at the final tournament.
The upcoming window of World Cup qualifying starts in September, with the first rounds of groups kicking off the process. The top two in each group (plus the four best third-placed teams) advance directly to the 2026 finals, while the remaining berths will be decided by play-offs involving the 12 group runners-up.
South Africa’s chances of clinching its first-ever World Cup qualification spot appear to be on the line after an overturned result stemming from the use of an ineligible player left them trailing Benin by three points with two matches to go. Madagascar also remains in contention to qualify for its first-ever finals, but it would require an unlikely series of results in order to make the cut.
Premier League stars led the way as Liverpool’s Cody Gakpo and Manchester City’s Tijjani Reijnders scored as the Netherlands thrashed Malta 4-0 in the Netherlands to move up to second place in Group G with three games remaining. Wins against Montenegro at home and the Faroe Islands away would be enough to secure a top-two finish and a play-off spot.
Just two direct berths remain in Asia as the fourth round of qualifying gets underway this month. The six teams that advanced from the second round (plus Indonesia, Oman and Saudi Arabia) will be split into two groups of three teams each, who will play single-round-robin home-and-away matches. The winners of each group will qualify for the World Cup, while the runner-ups will enter inter-confederation play-offs.