Determining 11 teams participating in the 2026 World Cup Finals

Australia became the sixth team to represent Asia at the 2026 World Cup after a 2-1 comeback win over Saudi Arabia in the final round of the third qualifying round.

Australia won the 6th ticket to represent Asia at the 2026 World Cup. Source: FIFA

Abdulrahman Al-Oboud broke the deadlock at King Abdullah Sports City and gave Saudi Arabia hope of qualification with an early goal in the 19th minute.

However, that could not happen as Conor Metcalfe and Mitchell Duke took turns scoring to help Australia successfully reverse the situation.

This victory helps Coach Tony Popovic's team officially close the 2026 World Cup qualifiers with a ticket to North America.

After 10 matches, Australia won 19 points, ranked second in Group C of the third qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia.

Thus, Australia became the last team from Asia to directly qualify for the biggest football festival on the planet next year.

Previously, five other teams from the region won tickets including Iran, Uzbekistan (Group A), South Korea, Jordan (Group B) and Japan (Group C).

This is also the 6th consecutive time that Australia has qualified for the World Cup and the 7th final round in the team's history.

In the previous 6 World Cups, Australia's best achievement was reaching the round of 16 in 2026 and 2022.

Thus, the 2026 World Cup finals have determined 11 participating teams. The teams include the US, Mexico, Canada (co-hosts), Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan and Australia (Asia), Argentina (South America) and New Zealand (Oceania).

The remaining 2.5 spots in Asia will be determined in the fourth qualifying round when six teams participate, including UAE, Qatar, Iraq, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.

In the fourth qualifying round of the 2026 World Cup in Asia (from October 8 to 14), 6 teams will be drawn on July 17, divided into 2 groups of 3 teams each. Each group will compete in a round-robin at a centralized location.

The top teams of the two groups will win the remaining two official tickets from the Asian region to the final round.

The fourth qualifying round matches are scheduled to take place at a centralised venue, which will be confirmed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in due course. The draw for the group stage will take place on July 17 in Japan.

The two second-placed teams in each group will play a play-off, with the winner advancing to the intercontinental play-off round.

Here, the Asian play-off winners will face opponents from Africa, South America, Oceania and North Central America-Caribbean (2 teams), competing to win the last 2 tickets to the 2026 World Cup finals.

The 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Europe are also taking place with exciting matches involving the "big guys".

Depay made history after helping the Netherlands beat Malta. Source: Getty Images

In Group G, the Netherlands played brilliantly to win a "destructive" 8-0 victory over weak opponent Malta, thereby helping the "Orange Storm" rise to 2nd place in Group G with 6 points, behind Finland (7 points). However, the Netherlands played one less match.

In Group H, Austria and Romania also won to compete with Bosnia and Herzegovina in the race for World Cup tickets.

Austria easily beat San Marino 4-0, while Romania defeated Cyprus 2-0. Both teams are on six points and three points behind leaders Bosnia and Herzegovina.

* In the 16th round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in South America, Ecuador, despite being highly rated, only managed a goalless draw against Peru.

Ecuador team won the right to participate in the 2026 World Cup. Source: Getty Images

However, this result is enough for coach Sebastian Beccacece's team to soon qualify for the biggest football festival on the planet next year.

After 16 matches, Ecuador has 25 points, 7 points more than Venezuela - the team in the play-off position - while the regional qualifying round has only two more matches to end.

This is the fifth time in history that Ecuador has participated in the World Cup. The best achievement this team has ever achieved was reaching the round of 16 of the 2006 World Cup.

In addition to the three teams mentioned above, teams such as Uruguay, Paraguay (24 points), and Colombia (22 points) are having an advantage in the race.

Thus, the South American region has officially determined three teams for the 2026 World Cup including Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador.

Argentina is the first team to qualify for North America and this team is sure to keep the top spot with 35 points in hand.

Meanwhile, Brazil qualified after the morning match on June 11 thanks to a 1-0 victory over rival Paraguay.

Thus, up to now, the 2026 World Cup has officially determined the 13 participating teams.

The 13 teams include the United States, Mexico and Canada (the three co-hosts), Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Japan, Australia (Asia), New Zealand (Oceania), Argentina, Brazil and Ecuador (South America).

Source: https://baophuyen.vn/the-thao/202507/xac-dinh-11-doi-tuyen-tham-du-vck-world-cup-2026-64d30ed/