History will be made at next year’s World Cup, with three countries playing host to the first 48-team tournament.
Qualification for the Finals in North America got going a long time ago for five of the six confederations.
However, as domestic football takes a backseat for a brief moment, UEFA will join the party as some European teams, including England and Belgium, begin their road to qualification.
It’s the perfect moment, then, for a crash course on how qualification works for every confederation and how many teams they will send to the revamped tournament.
It’s England arrivals day! 🏴😄 pic.twitter.com/0oNz263eLy
— England (@England) March 17, 2025
AFC
The Asian confederation will see eight teams qualify directly for the finals.
AFC qualifying is six games into in the third-round stage, with the remaining 18 teams competing in three groups of six. The top two teams in those groups will qualify for the World Cup, with the third and fourth-placed teams progressing to a fourth round.
In the fourth round, which starts in October, those six teams will be divided into two groups of three, with the winner of each group booking their spot in the tournament proper.
The two second-placed teams will face each other in a two-legged playoff in November for a place in the inter-confederation playoffs.
The third round will conclude in June. Iran and Japan are both already sure of at least a place in the fourth round but could clinch a spot in the finals during this international window.
CAF
The qualification process in Africa is more straightforward. Nine groups of six teams contest a round robin in the opening round. The nine group winners qualify for the World Cup.
From there, the four-best ranked group runners-up will compete in a playoff, with the winner progressing to the inter-confederation playoffs.
The first round, which is still in its relatively early stages with four games played, will conclude in October, with the playoff taking place a month later.
CONCACAF
Three CONCACAF teams are already sure of their place at the World Cup with the United States, Canada and Mexico due to host the tournament. There are 30 teams competing to claim one of the three spots to join them.
CONCACAF qualifying is in its second-round stage, which will see the first and second-placed teams from six groups of five advance into the third round after four round-robin matches.
The 12 teams that progress to the third round will be split into three groups of four for double round-robin matches. The three group winners will punch their ticket to the World Cup, while the two top-ranked runners-up will head to the inter-confederation playoffs.
Each side has played two second-round matches to this point. The next such fixtures will take place in June, three months before the start of the third round.
CONMEBOL
The beauty of CONMEBOL’s qualification process is its simplicity, with 10 teams playing 18 double round-robin games against each other.
The top six qualify for the World Cup, with the seventh-placed team advancing to the inter-confederation playoffs.
#SelecciónMayor ¡Buenos días, muchachos! 👋🏻 pic.twitter.com/TUHvLed33w
— 🇦🇷 Selección Argentina ⭐⭐⭐ (@Argentina) March 17, 2025
Defending champions Argentina are in the box seat to qualify, having amassed 25 points from 12 games to lead the standings, though La Albiceleste do face Chile and arch rivals Brazil in this round of fixtures.
CONMEBOL qualification will conclude in September.
OFC
The smallest confederation is guaranteed just one spot at the Finals, and the identity of that qualifier will be known next week.
The OFC is in its third and final round of qualification, the process concluding with a three-match playoff between the four remaining teams.
On Thursday, New Caledonia will face Tahiti and New Zealand will take on Fiji, with both games taking place in Wellington. The two semi-final winners then travel to Auckland to face off for a place in the World Cup next Tuesday. The loser will advance to the inter-confederation playoffs.
New Zealand are obviously the heavy favourites, their last defeat in OFC World Cup qualifying coming way back in 2008 when they lost 2-0 to Fiji.
Sky Stadium 📍🇳🇿 Four days to go 👀 pic.twitter.com/KWtEnmGzbt
— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) March 17, 2025
UEFA
UEFA has the largest allocation of teams for the expanded finals. Sixteen teams from the European confederation will qualify for the finals.
Fifty-four teams were drawn into 12 groups of four or five, with the group winners securing qualification.
The dozen remaining group runners-up and the four best UEFA Nations League teams that did not finish in the top two in their qualifying group will go into a second-round playoff format.
The teams will be drawn into four play-off paths featuring single-legged semi-finals and finals. The four path winners will qualify for the World Cup.
Groups G-L kick off in this window, with the rest following suit in September. The first round concludes in November before the second-round playoffs take place next March.
Inter-confederation playoffs
The six teams that progress to the inter-confederation playoffs will contest a single-elimination tournament next March.
The four-lowest ranked teams will be unseeded and face each other in the semifinals, and the winners of those ties will each take on a seeded team with a place in the World Cup on the line.
