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.

Tickets for the 2026 World Cup are selling fast, especially from Africa.

In the October World Cup 2026 qualifying matches, the African region will see the most teams secure their place in the finals. A total of seven spots will be available after Morocco and Tunisia already qualified.

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

Photo: Reuters

On October 9th, the Egyptian national team, with Liverpool star Mohamed Salah scoring a brace, won 3-0 against Djibouti in the penultimate match of Group A, with the other goal scored by Adel in the 8th minute. This victory officially secured Egypt's top spot in the group with 23 points, 5 points ahead of second-placed Burkina Faso, with only one match remaining.

The Egyptian team thus officially secured their ticket to the 2026 World Cup. Meanwhile, Ghana also firmly defended their top spot in Group I with 22 points after winning 5-0 against the Central African Republic away from home. The "Black Stars" (Ghana's nickname) are also 99% certain of securing their ticket to the 2026 World Cup, unless in the final match on October 13th they fail to beat Comoros and Madagascar (second in the group, 19 points) beat Mali by a margin of 8 goals or more. This is an extremely difficult condition, so it is unlikely to happen.

The special significance of the 3 mascots of the 2026 World Cup.

Therefore, barring any surprises, Ghana has almost certainly secured the 20th spot at the 2026 World Cup. There are still 28 tickets up for grabs, with Europe accounting for 16 of them, and the final qualification deadline is March 31, 2026.

In the upcoming round, the African region will continue to determine the remaining spots in the tournament for the USA, Mexico, and Canada next summer. The Cape Verde team also has its own destiny in its hands and is almost certain to qualify, like Ghana, but they must wait until the final round for official confirmation. Cape Verde recently drew 3-3 with Libya, leaving them just two points ahead of Cameroon, who are in second place, before the final round.

In the final match on October 14th, 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 secure their ticket to the 2026 World Cup, regardless of the result of Cameroon's other match against Angola on the same day.

Additionally, contenders such as Senegal (Group B), the race between Benin and South Africa (both with 14 points, Group C), Ivory Coast and Gabon (Group F), and Algeria (Group G) are competing for the remaining spots, which will be decided in the upcoming final round. Meanwhile, the second-placed teams (the four best-performing teams) will compete in a play-off round, with only one winner advancing to the intercontinental play-off for a last-chance spot in March of next year.

The Asian region will also determine the remaining two spots after the ongoing fourth qualifying round. In Group A, Oman and Qatar drew 0-0 in their opening match, both earning one point. The UAE will play Oman next (October 12th, Vietnam time), and the final match on October 15th will see Qatar face the UAE.

Meanwhile, in Group B, Saudi Arabia won their opening match against Indonesia in a dramatic 3-2 victory, temporarily leading the group with 3 points. Indonesia's next match is against Iraq on October 12th, and Saudi Arabia's final match is against Iraq on October 15th.

As of October 9th, the teams that have officially qualified for the 2026 World Cup include the three co-hosts, the USA, Mexico, and Canada, along with 16 teams that qualified through the preliminary rounds. These include 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