Everything you need to know about the World Cup play-off draw

The second round of qualifying is scheduled to take place in March 2026.

The 2026 World Cup qualifying process is nearing its end, although a few places are still up for grabs.

So far, 32 national teams have secured their participation in next summer’s tournament, which will be held in three countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico.

In previous years, the full list of participants would already have been complete. However, this World Cup will be the first to feature 48 teams, which means 16 more teams will qualify.

In addition to the three host nations and current champions Argentina, England, Brazil, Portugal, Norway, France and Senegal have also qualified automatically.

Meanwhile, Cape Verde, Jordan and Uzbekistan will make their World Cup debuts.

For teams that did not win their group – or even some that failed to finish second – the play-offs offer a final chance to keep their World Cup dream alive.

The draw for the 2026 World Cup play-offs will take place on Thursday, 20 November 2025.

The ceremony will be held at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

There are two types of play-offs: the UEFA play-offs and the FIFA inter-confederation play-offs.

Both will take place in March 2026. While the exact dates of the inter-confederation play-offs have not yet been confirmed, the UEFA play-offs begin with the semi-finals on 26 March and conclude with the finals on 31 March.

The UEFA play-offs will be played as single-leg knockout matches, and the draw will determine the teams’ paths.

The 16 teams will be divided into four groups of four, leaving national teams two wins away from qualification (semi-final + final).

Pots A to C will be determined according to the FIFA rankings. Pot D will contain the four teams qualifying through the Nations League.

The inter-confederation play-offs will begin with the four lowest-ranked teams in FIFA, which will play two single-leg knockout matches. The winners will face the two highest-ranked teams, again in single-leg matches, and the winners will qualify for the World Cup.

So far, Italy, Ukraine, the Republic of Ireland, Albania and the Czech Republic are the confirmed runners-up in UEFA qualifying groups. They will be joined by Romania, Sweden and Northern Ireland, as three of the best Nations League teams that did not finish in the top two.

Bolivia, New Caledonia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – which defeated Nigeria in the African play-off final – have qualified for the inter-confederation play-offs, with three more teams expected to be confirmed.

The 2026 World Cup draw will take place in Washington, D.C., USA, on Friday, 5 December 2025.