Whilst England have been battling the might of Malta and Macedonia to ensure a favourable Euro 2024 draw...
There countries battling elsewhere for the right to Qualify for the 2026 World Cup - Number in brackets are July FIFA World Rankings
AFC Second Round kicked off this break, with each Country completing two games
Currently nine Groups of four teams, with the likes of Japan (20) | Australia (27) | South Korea (28) now entering at this Stage of Qualification - The only really surprise result was Uzbekistan (74) earning a 2-2 draw with Iran (22).
Pakistan (193) who won their first ever World Cup game in the last round, lost 4-0 to Saudi Arabia, and 6-1 to Jordan.
CAF Africa's Qualification process got under way this International Break
Comoros (130) opened their campaign with back to back wins against Ghana (59) and Central African Republic (125)
Rwanda (139) also top their Group (which would guarantee automatic Qualification to the World Cup) with four points after 2-0 win over South Africa (62), and 0-0 draw with Zimbabwe (124) - That Group also includes Nigeria (39), who have just the two draws at the moment, both games ending 1-1 against Lesotho (152) and Zimbabwe
Elsewhere and Eritrea (198) have withdrawn from the 2026 World Cup... Sorry Eritrean fans!!
COMMEBOL Brazil lost their first game on home soil in 64-games, losing to rivals Argentina - We're up to game week six out of 18 games in this Qualifying Region, and Brazil occupy the last of the automatic Qualification spots as things stand, so could be forced to settle for the Inter-Confederation Play-Off route... That will be very unlikely though.
The current top six are as follows
Argentina (1) | Uruguay (16) | Colombia (17) | Venezuela (57) | Ecuador (40) | Brazil (3)
Whilst Paraguay (49) would take the Play-Off spot as things stand.
South America will take a break from Qualifiers with the next round not until next September
CONCACAF We end the Race around the World with a brief mention for North America
The First Round of Qualification will commence in March, so something for you to all look forward to...
The four lowest teams based on the FIFA Rankings will face off against each other home and away - As things stand it'll be as follows, although the FIFA Rankings will no doubt differ between now and then, so it could yet all change.
Anguilla (206) vs Turks & Caicos Isles (201) | US Virgin Isles (205) | vs British Virgin Isles (204)
The two winners of these games will progress to the 2nd Round
With Anguilla being 206th, there are at least 13 more countries in FIFA than the UN.
Have Venezuela ever qualified before? I can't remember them at a WC?
No, they're the only South American nation who've never qualified.
Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana are South American nations, albeit they play in CONCACAF
How can French Guiana qualify for the world cup. They are an overseas department and region of France. They must be administered by the French FA. I thought only the UK for historical reasons was allowed 4 independent FA`s
Have Venezuela ever qualified before? I can't remember them at a WC?
No, they're the only South American nation who've never qualified.
Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana are South American nations, albeit they play in CONCACAF
How can French Guiana qualify for the world cup. They are an overseas department and region of France. They must be administered by the French FA. I thought only the UK for historical reasons was allowed 4 independent FA`s
French Guiana cant... they're not part of World Cup Qualification, they are however allowed to compete in the CONCACAF Nations League
China along with India are two countries with such un tapped potential. India are often managed by English men and whilst cricket is by a long way the leading sport, football has a very strong following.
Brazil lost to Paraguay last night and currently sit 5th in the group, but are only 1 point ahead of 8th which would knock them out.
Looked at their lineup and their decline from the teams of old is crazy. Started with a midfield trio that play for Wolves, West Ham and Newcastle. In an attempt to save the game they put on Pedro from Brighton and Lucas Moura who Spurs let go last season.
They'll still qualify as it's almost harder to not qualify from South America, but i can't believe how bad they've become.
Doesn’t even scratch the surface, Liverpool have an academy here that currently has 0 full time coaches, the last one quit to teach PE at the school I work at.
Have Venezuela ever qualified before? I can't remember them at a WC?
No, they're the only South American nation who've never qualified.
Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana are South American nations, albeit they play in CONCACAF
How can French Guiana qualify for the world cup. They are an overseas department and region of France. They must be administered by the French FA. I thought only the UK for historical reasons was allowed 4 independent FA`s
French Guiana cant... they're not part of World Cup Qualification, they are however allowed to compete in the CONCACAF Nations League
Might sound far fetched, but wouldn’t surprise me if they use the weather (ridiculously hot) as some sort of way to justify a longer half time in World Cup games so they can shoehorn more stuff like this in.
Will almost certainly be longer now, i'm pretty sure the Superbowl half time is about 25 minutes. 5 minutes to get the stage and everything rushed onto the pitch and set up, up to 15 minutes for the artist performance and then 5 minutes to dismantle everything and clear the pitch.
If it's as hot in the US as it's expected to be, i'm sure the players won't mind a few extra minutes break.
Draw for UEFA qualifying will take place on December 13th.
- 12 groups of either four or five teams
- 12 group winners will qualify automatically for the tournament
- 12 group runners up will move on to playoffs - 4 best Nations League teams not included in the above will also join the playoffs - the above 16 teams will be split into four “paths” (semi final & final) with the winner of each path qualifying for the tournament
England are guaranteed to be in Pot 1 and thus avoid the likes of France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium in their qualifying group.
England are guaranteed to be in Pot 1 and thus avoid the likes of France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium in their qualifying group.
That's still as clear as mud to me. Apart from the fact we are one of top seeds for the WC draw (Dec 13th ?). And we dont have International matches in March.......although I still expect there is an International "break" where we play friendlies.
England are guaranteed to be in Pot 1 and thus avoid the likes of France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium in their qualifying group.
That's still as clear as mud to me. Apart from the fact we are one of top seeds for the WC draw (Dec 13th ?). And we dont have International matches in March.......although I still expect there is an International "break" where we play friendlies.
Two friendlies penciled in for March . Opponents to be announced
Comments
Australia 0 Bahrain 1
South Korea 0 Palestine 0
Not so surprising - Japan 7 China 0.
Meaning that Tonga and Samoa face each other on Monday to decide who progresses to the 2nd Round of OFC Qualification
That's a fantastic article , does make me wonder how much longer Fosun hold onto Wolves with all this in the background.
Inter Milan's previous owners Suning had to relinquish control to US investment company Oaktree after they couldn't afford to make a payment to them.
Looked at their lineup and their decline from the teams of old is crazy. Started with a midfield trio that play for Wolves, West Ham and Newcastle. In an attempt to save the game they put on Pedro from Brighton and Lucas Moura who Spurs let go last season.
They'll still qualify as it's almost harder to not qualify from South America, but i can't believe how bad they've become.
If it's as hot in the US as it's expected to be, i'm sure the players won't mind a few extra minutes break.
- 12 groups of either four or five teams
- 4 best Nations League teams not included in the above will also join the playoffs
- the above 16 teams will be split into four “paths” (semi final & final) with the winner of each path qualifying for the tournament
https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/42364120/uefa-nations-league-whats-stake-2026-world-cup-qualifying-impact