Seven Early Entrants in the Race for the World’s Biggest Football Event
It’s official—seven teams are already packing their bags for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. While three of these teams—Canada, Mexico, and the United States—secured their spots without breaking a sweat as tournament hosts, the rest battled their way through tough qualifying rounds. Japan became the first Asian team to clinch a place for 2026, sweeping through their AFC group with not much resistance and securing the ticket in March 2025. The Japanese squad, riding high on their 2022 performance, barely dropped points, leaving their rivals scrambling for second place.
Over in Oceania, football fans have more to cheer about. New Zealand finally booked a return to the World Cup stage—their first since 2010—thanks to an expanded tournament allowing the Oceania region more opportunity. The Kiwis waltzed through their qualifiers, capitalizing on the region’s extra slot, which was a real game-changer for nations often overshadowed by bigger football continents. Iran joined the party too, taking advantage of a solid qualifying run and wrapping up their qualification by March 2025 without leaving any questions about their place in the tournament.
The Expanded Format and What It Means for Everyone
The 2026 World Cup is already making waves long before the first ball is kicked. For the first time, 48 teams will compete, up from the usual 32. This isn’t just about bigger numbers for the sake of spectacle. It means regions like Oceania—often a footnote when talking about football’s biggest event—finally get a real seat at the table. This translates to 16 more teams with a chance to write their World Cup story.
In North America, the CONCACAF qualification process is in full swing. Thirty teams are split across six groups for round two, scrapping for a place in the all-deciding third round. Here, every game counts; slip-ups are costly because only the top two teams in each group survive. For fans, it’s high-stakes drama with plenty of twists—regional rivalries, emerging underdogs, and surprise upsets. As for the big South American showdown, the CONMEBOL qualifiers have been fierce since September 2023, showcasing football at some of its highest intensity and technical level.
Europe and Africa are not far behind. The UEFA qualifiers, expected to kick off in March 2025, are always a pressure cooker, packed with heavyweight nations and tricky dark horses. Meanwhile, Africa’s CAF qualifiers return in November 2023, and Oceania sees its own qualifying rounds starting September 2024. All these timelines create a domino effect, pushing the tempo of international football and keeping fans guessing who will make it to the final list.
One of the biggest plot twists will be the inter-confederation playoffs. Once all qualifiers wrap up, runners-up from the CONCACAF third round and other regions will fight tooth and nail for the final places. This sudden-death scenario is where dreams are made—and broken.
With the early birds already qualified and so many matches still to play across every continent, one thing’s clear: the road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup is more open, wild, and unpredictable than ever before.