How many teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, and how tight are the groups?

As of October 9, 19 teams have officially qualified for the 2026 World Cup, including the three co-hosts, the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Egypt is the newest team, followed by Ghana, the 20th.

2026 World Cup tickets are crowded from the African region

The 2026 World Cup qualifiers in October will see the African region see the most teams secure their places in the finals, with seven spots in total after Morocco and Tunisia secured their places earlier.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino presents the trophy at a recent 2026 World Cup promotional event in the US

Photo: Reuters

On the match day of October 9, the Egyptian team with star Mohamed Salah of Liverpool FC scored a double in the 3-0 victory over Djibouti in the penultimate round of Group A, the remaining goal was scored by Adel in the 8th minute. Thereby, Egypt officially maintained the top position in the group with 23 points, 5 points more than the second-placed team Burkina Faso, while only the first round of matches remained.

The Egyptian team has thus officially won a ticket to the 2026 World Cup. Meanwhile, the Ghana team has also firmly defended the top spot in Group I with 22 points after defeating the Central African Republic away with a score of 5-0. The "Black Stars" (Ghana's nickname) are also 99% sure of a ticket to the 2026 World Cup, unless in the final round on October 13 they fail to beat the Comoros team and the Madagascar team (second in the group, 19 points) wins the Mali team by a difference of 8 goals or more. This is a very difficult condition, so it is not easy to happen.

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Therefore, if there are no surprises, Ghana is almost certain to secure the 20th place at the 2026 World Cup. There are currently 28 more tickets waiting for teams, of which the European region accounts for 16 places and will not be completed until March 31, 2026.

In the next round, the African region will continue to determine the remaining spots to the US, Mexico and Canada next summer. In particular, the Cape Verde team also decided their own opportunity and almost secured a spot like the Ghana team, but they have to wait until the final round to officially determine. Cape Verde just drew 3-3 with Libya, thereby leaving them just 2 points ahead of the second-placed team, Cameroon, before the final round.

In the final round on October 14, Cape Verde will host bottom-placed Eswatini at home. If they win, the small island nation with a population of just over half a million will officially qualify for the 2026 World Cup, regardless of the result of Cameroon's other match against Angola on the same day.

In addition, candidates such as Senegal (Group B), the race between Benin and South Africa (both 14 points, Group C), Ivory Coast and Gabon (Group F), Algeria (Group G) are the teams competing for the remaining spots and will be decided in the upcoming final round. Meanwhile, the second-placed teams (4 teams with the best results) will compete in the play-off round, only 1 winning team will participate in the intercontinental play-off round to compete for a ticket in March next year.

The Asian region will also determine the remaining two spots after the fourth qualifying round is underway. In Group A, Oman and Qatar drew 0-0, both with 1 point. The next match will be against Oman (October 12, Vietnam time) and in the final match on October 15, Qatar will face UAE.

In Group B, Saudi Arabia started the match with a dramatic 3-2 win over Indonesia, temporarily leading the group with 3 points. The next match is between Indonesia and Iraq on October 12, and the final match is between Saudi Arabia and Iraq on October 15.

The teams that have officially qualified for the 2026 World Cup (as of October 9) include the three co-host teams, the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and the 16 teams that have passed the qualifying round. Of these, there are six teams from Asia: Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, and Australia; six teams from South America: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay, and Paraguay; one team from Oceania: New Zealand; and three teams from Africa: Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/da-co-bao-nhieu-doi-tuyen-gianh-ve-den-world-cup-2026-cac-bang-con-gay-can-co-nao-185251009092211133.htm