International football is finished for the year as the final stages of 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying provided another bout of drama.
All but six of the 48 nations competing at next summer’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico have been confirmed, with the remaining participants decided by the all-important playoffs next March.
A total of 22 teams from all six confederations are battling it out for those final half-dozen spots. Four of those qualifiers will come from the 16-team UEFA playoffs with the remaining two emerging from an eclectic slice of international teams.
The draw to determine the matchups for these playoffs will be crucial to deciding the final makeup of World Cup participants. Here is everything you need to know about this intriguing process.
The playoff draw for the World Cup will be staged at FIFA’s Home of Football in Zurich, Switzerland on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 7 a.m. ET (4 a.m. PT, 12 p.m. GMT).
The draw for the Inter-confederation playoff will take place immediately before the process for UEFA’s teams gets underway.
There are two separate play-off paths for the remaining six places at the World Cup.
The inter-confederation playoff features six nations from five different confederations. There are two separate pathways, with DR Congo (CAF) and Iraq (AFC) having already qualified for their respective finals. New Caledonia (OFC), Bolivia (CONMEBOL), Jamaica (CONCACAF) and Suriname (CONCACAF) will compete for a place in the two finals against either DR Congo or Iraq.
There is also a UEFA-specific playoff, from which four teams will qualify for the World Cup. 16 teams are competing, with 12 of those being group-stage runners-up from World Cup qualification and the remaining four featuring on the basis of their UEFA Nations League performances.
There are four separate paths for UEFA teams, with the 16 sides divided into four equal pots based on FIFA ranking. The highest rated nations in Pot 1 will host a Pot 4 side in the semifinals while Pot 2 welcome their Pot 3 counterparts. The winners of each semifinal in a distinct path face each other in a final, the location of which will be determined by Thursday’s draw.
Italy are the most high-profile nation involved in the UEFA play-offs, while Denmark, Türkiye, Sweden, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland also among those taking part.
