World Cup Qualifiers
by Bianca Luciano
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Five to six months from now, the streets — especially in New Jersey — will be filled with people waving their cultural flags and people of every nationality gathering at bars or in homes to watch World Cup games. But before the excitement begins, we need to know who is qualified to play in the World Cup and which countries, unfortunately, didn’t make the cut.
A total of 48 teams will play in the 2026 World Cup hosted by the U.S., Canada, and Mexico; as of now, 42 of those spots have been taken. The United States, Mexico, and Canada have automatic qualification because they are the tournament hosts. High-profile nations such as England, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, and Germany have qualified for the tournament after finishing first in their groups during the qualifying stage, which secured their berths.
Image by Beatrice Batista
In South America, Ecuador, Paraguay, Colombia, and, of course, Brazil and Argentina have qualified for the World Cup. In Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt have secured their spots. In Asia, Japan, Iran, South Korea, Australia, Jordan, and Uzbekistan have qualified. For Oceania, only New Zealand has advanced. Europe has the most qualifiers: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, and Switzerland. However, several notable nations — including Italy, Denmark, Turkey, and Ukraine — must go through play-off matches in March 2026 to earn one of the final four spots in the World Cup.
As the tournament approaches, we can’t help but wonder which of the qualifying countries will emerge as number one.
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