Clint Dempsey predicts which guys will start for Pochettino in 2026
Former USMNT player Clint Dempsey on Coach Pochettino’s first year as head coach and how he’s looking to set the starting 11 for the 2026 World Cup.
Sports Seriously
The qualifying process for the 2026 World Cup involves nearly every sovereign nation on the planet, with every team pursuing one of the 48 berths at next summer’s massive tournament.
While the United States, Mexico, and Canada were all guaranteed places as host nations, the other 45 berths have to be earned the hard way. Qualifying kicked off all the way back on Sept. 7, 2023, with a game between Paraguay and Peru being the first to kick off. From there, each of the six continental confederations work through a sometimes byzantine process to sort out the nations that will take the field at the next men’s World Cup.
Over the last two days, four nations have sealed their places at next summer’s tournament. On Thursday, Uruguay and Colombia both clinched their places with wins in South America, while Paraguay joined them after a scoreless draw against Ecuador (and then declared a national holiday to celebrate). Morocco became the first African nation to qualify, sealing their place with a 5-0 rout of Niger on Friday.
Here’s what to know about who has qualified for the 2026 World Cup, who might join them in the near future, and a breakdown of how many berths each of the world’s regions gets:
Who has qualified for World Cup 2026?
The 2026 World Cup will be the first ever to include 48 nations, a massive jump up from the 32 that competed in Qatar in 2022. The qualifying process varies from confederation to confederation, with 17 nations having clinched their places in next summer’s massive tournament.
Here is a complete list of every country to qualify for the 2026 World Cup as of Friday, Sept. 5:
- Host nations: Canada, Mexico, United States
- Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Uzbekistan
- Africa: Morocco
- Concacaf: None yet
- Europe: None yet
- Oceania: New Zealand
- South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay
World Cup qualifying: Who could clinch a 2026 spot next?
World Cup qualifying is going on worldwide, with each confederation’s schedule and process containing variations. However, in the next few days, three countries could claim their places at the 2026 tournament:
- Algeria: A win on Monday against Guinea (which will be played in Casablanca, Morocco, as Guinea doesn’t have a stadium that meets CAF standards) combined with Uganda failing to beat Somalia in Kampala would send Algeria to their fifth men’s World Cup.
- Egypt: With three games left to play, Egypt leads Group A by five points over Burkina Faso. Those two meet in Ouagadougou on Tuesday, and a win for the visitors would get “the Pharoahs” back into the World Cup after they missed out in 2022.
- Tunisia: Tunisia leads Group H by seven points with three games to play, leaving them with several paths to clinch qualifying. A win on Monday at Equatorial Guinea would do the job, as would Namibia failing to defeat São Tomé and Príncipe on Tuesday.
Additionally, there are two high-pressure games in South America, where Venezuela and Bolivia are fighting for the region’s only intercontinental playoff spot. Venezuela holds a one-point lead between the two (as well as a 12-goal edge in the first tiebreaker, goal difference), meaning that a win at home over Colombia will keep their hopes alive.
Bolivia must beat Brazil — something they’ve only done once, back in 2009 — and hope for Venezuela to stumble at the finish line. Otherwise, the “Vinotinto” will begin looking forward to the intercontinental playoff.
World Cup 2026: How many spots for each region?
Here is a complete breakdown of how FIFA sorted out all 48 berths at the 2026 World Cup:
- Host nations (3): Canada, Mexico, and the United States all qualified as soon as they were picked to host the tournament.
- Asia (8): Six Asian countries have qualified. The Asian Football Confederation’s fourth round (which will settle who claims the final two automatic bids) begins on Wednesday, Oct. 8.
- Africa (9): African qualifying sorted 54 countries into nine groups of six (though Eritrea withdrew from Group E before play began). Group winners all qualify, while the best four runners-up will have a pathway to the intercontinental playoff.
- Concacaf (3): The region’s third round — featuring three groups of four — began on Thursday, Sept. 4. Group winners qualify directly, while the two best runners-up will enter the intercontinental playoff.
- Europe (16): UEFA qualifying features 54 teams broken up into 12 groups. Group winners qualify for the World Cup, while the second-place finishers (along with the top four teams from the UEFA Nations League who didn’t win their qualifying groups) will enter a playoff for Europe’s final four berths that is set for March 2026.
- Oceania (1): New Zealand has already claimed Oceania’s only guaranteed berth at the 2026 World Cup.
- South America (6): CONMEBOL’s marathon qualifying tournament is down to one final round of games, but all six direct spots have already been clinched. The region’s seventh-place finisher (which will be either Venezuela or Bolivia) will go into the intercontinental playoff.
- Intercontinental playoff (2): New Caledonia is the only team locked into a spot in what will be a six-team tournament scheduled for March 2026.
