End of 2026 World Cup qualifying round, how many teams have entered the final round: How is the Play-off?

On the morning of November 19, the CONCACAF region determined that the three official slots belonged to Panama, Curacao and Haiti, thereby closing the 2026 World Cup qualifying round, with only the play-off rounds remaining, with 42/48 teams having qualified for the final round.

World Cup 2026 has all the talent except Italy, who is being challenged again, Suriname painfully lost the ticket

Suriname could be the most exciting team at the 2026 World Cup, with fans around the world watching every step of the CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean) qualifying campaign.

However, they stumbled in the final and fateful match, losing to the eliminated team Guatemala with a score of 1-3 on November 19 in Group A. This painful defeat caused Suriname (9 points) to lose their place in the final round, which they thought was in their hands, to Panama (12 points) who beat El Salvador 3-0 on the same day.

42/48 teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, leaving only 6 play-off spots with 4 European spots and 2 intercontinental spots (determined in March 2026)

Photo: Football Rankings/X

The remaining two spots in CONCACAF are also determined, with Curacao drawing 0-0 in the decisive match against Jamaica to just enough to win Group B with 12 points compared to their opponents' 11 points. And Haiti beat Nicaragua 2-0 to overcome Honduras (drawn 0-0 with Costa Rica) to secure a ticket to the 2026 World Cup. This is Haiti's first return to the World Cup since 1974.

Meanwhile, Curacao became the fourth team after Jordan, Uzbekistan and Cape Verde, who were all participating in the World Cup for the first time. Curacao also set a record as the country with the smallest population in history to participate in the World Cup (with a population of about 155,900 people as of 2024).

With the CONCACAF regional qualifiers concluded, the official 2026 World Cup qualifiers have also concluded, determining the 39 teams that qualified for the finals along with the three co-hosts (42 teams in total). There are now only two play-off rounds left, including the European and Intercontinental regions (both taking place in March 2026), to determine the remaining six spots (four for Europe and two for Intercontinental).

As of November 19, 42/48 teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, including the three co-host teams of the US, Mexico and Canada, and 39 teams that have qualified.

Of which, the Asian region (8 teams) are Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Korea, Jordan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia; 6 teams from the South American region are Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay and Paraguay; 1 team from the Oceania region is New Zealand; 9 teams from the African region are Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia.

Europe (12 teams): Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain and Switzerland. CONCACAF (3 teams): Panama, Curacao and Haiti.

The European play-offs will feature a total of 16 teams, with the 12 runners-up and the four best Nations League group winners. These 16 teams will be divided into four play-off brackets, with two decisive matches (semi-finals and final) to be played, with the winner qualifying for the 2026 World Cup.

The draw took place on November 20, with four-time world champions Italy in Pot 1, along with Denmark, Turkey and Ukraine. This group will be drawn against Pot 4 opponents Romania, Sweden, North Macedonia and Northern Ireland. Pot 2 teams Poland, Wales, Czech Republic and Slovakia will be drawn against Pot 3 teams Ireland, Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kosovo.

The intercontinental play-off round also determined the 6 participating teams, in which Asian representatives Iraq (ranked 57th in the world) and DR Congo (Africa, ranked 60) were seeded in 2 brackets, because they have higher positions than the remaining teams including Jamaica (ranked 68), Bolivia (76), Suriname (126) and New Caledonia (150).

Therefore, both Iraq and DR Congo have an advantage when entering the finals of the two brackets, only needing to play 1 match to determine tickets to the 2026 World Cup. The remaining teams will be drawn (also on November 20), divided into 2 pairs of matches called semi-finals to determine which team wins to enter the final against Iraq and DR Congo.

When will the 2026 World Cup draw take place?

FIFA has officially announced and confirmed the time of the 2026 World Cup finals draw at 11 p.m. (Vietnam time) on December 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC (USA).

The mascots of the 2026 World Cup have been unveiled.

Photo: Reuters

With 48 teams participating in the 2026 World Cup, FIFA will draw lots to divide the teams into 12 groups, with each group having 4 teams.

Of which, 3 co-host teams have been fixed, including the US team in Group D with code D1. The Mexican team will play the opening match at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, fixed in Group A and code A1. The remaining co-host team is Canada in Group B and code B1.

After the group stage, the top two teams in each group and the eight best third-placed teams advance to the round of 32. The teams will then be paired off for a round of 16, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final.

The 2026 World Cup will take place from June 11, 2026, to July 19, 2026. The opening match will be held at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium, and the final will be held at MetLife Stadium in New York/New Jersey.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ket-thuc-vong-loai-world-cup-2026-da-co-bao-nhieu-doi-vao-vck-play-off-ra-sao-185251119105850819.htm