Who has qualified for the 2026 World Cup? Morocco become first African nation to make it as England close in

The 2026 World Cup is under a year away, and several teams from around the world have already booked their spots.

England are also getting closer after four wins from four under Thomas Tuchel so far.

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World Cup host nations Canada, Mexico and the United States are all guaranteed their spot in the expanded FIFA showpiece.

Japan became the first non-host team to qualify with three games to spare in the third round of Asian qualification.

And other nations have quickly followed them.

Defending champions Argentina and five-time winners Brazil are also set to be there.

The latest teams to qualify for the tournament were Paraguay, Uruguay and Colombia.

Meanwhile, Morocco became the first African side to make it.

Who has qualified for the 2026 World Cup?

Hosts

• Canada
• Mexico
• United States of America

AFC

• Australia
• Iran
• Japan
• Jordan
• South Korea
• Uzbekistan

CAF

• Morocco

CONCACAF

• TBC

CONMEBOL

• Argentina
• Brazil
• Colombia
• Ecuador
• Paraguay
• Uruguay

OFC

• TBC

Play-offs

• TBC

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How many qualify and how does it work?

The 2026 World Cup will be the first in FIFA history to see 48 teams be part of the tournament next summer.

Three of those are the hosts, Canada, Mexico and the USA, with a further 43 qualifying directly.

The final two spots will come from the respective winners of the inter-confederation play-offs.

The six play-off teams will be divided up by their FIFA World Ranking, with the top two seeds going straight into one of the two finals.

• AFC: eight direct slots and one play-off slot.
• CAF: nine direct slots and one play-off slot.
• CONCACAF: three direct slots, three host slots and two play-off slots.
• CONMEBOL: six direct slots and one play-off slot.
• OFC: one direct slot and one play-off slot.
• UEFA: 16 direct slots and zero play-off slots.

World Cup 2026: Dates

The 2026 World Cup will get underway on Thursday, June 11, 2026, and run until the final on Sunday, July 19.

FIFA is eager to keep the tournament’s ‘footprint’ to 57 days meaning there would be 16 days of preparation and then 39 days of competition.

That would mean an earlier finish to the European domestic season but it remains to be seen how FIFA will slot everything in.