The roster for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ has been finalized, with six teams securing the remaining spots among the 48 participating nations, making this the most inclusive tournament in history in North America.
Iraq was the final team to secure qualification, defeating Bolivia in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off Tournament at Monterrey Stadium, Mexico. This victory awarded them the final spot in Group I, joining France, Senegal, and Norway. The qualification process comprised a total of 899 matches played over the course of 937 days.
A day of significant developments unfolded across Europe, as the remaining four teams out of the continent’s 16 representatives were determined from Zenica to Solna, Pristina to Prague. Czechia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, and Sweden advanced through competitive playoff matches to secure their spots in FIFA World Cup 2026 groups: Czechia in Group A, Bosnia and Herzegovina in Group B, Turkey in Group D, and Sweden in Group F.
Haiti has qualified for the FIFA World Cup on a historic date.
The focus then shifted to Mexico in North America, where the FIFA World Cup 2026 co-hosts hosted the matches that determined the remaining two qualification spots. Fans of the Democratic Republic of the Congo can now anticipate their team’s upcoming match against Portugal on June 17 in Houston, Texas, following their 1-0 victory over Jamaica in Guadalajara to secure the final position in Group K.
It was appropriate that the final berth for the FIFA World Cup 2026 was decided by a match between Iraq and Bolivia. Iraq participated in the most qualifying matches, with a total of 21, while Bolivia, along with the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia, played in 20. Iraq’s Aymen Hussein scored the last goal of the global qualifying campaign’s 2,527 goals, which were scored at an average of 2.8 goals per game, marking the conclusion of a journey that began on September 7, 2023.
The FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off Tournament provided an excellent opportunity to prepare the venues in Guadalajara and Monterrey, which will host a total of eight FIFA World Cup 2026 matches. During the tournament, these venues welcomed a combined total of 163,799 spectators across four matches over two matchdays.
A record 48 teams will compete in 104 matches across 16 host cities in Canada, Mexico, and the United States from June 11 to July 19. Anticipated attendance exceeds six million fans throughout the tournament. Tickets are still available through the final sales phase. Public tickets will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at FIFA.com/tickets beginning at 11:00 AM ET / 17:00 CET on Wednesday, April 1, 2026.
Additionally, it is estimated that approximately six billion people worldwide will engage with the competition across various platforms, once again demonstrating how football unites people globally as the largest standalone sporting event in history.
Following the completion of the qualifying rounds, the schedule for the upcoming FIFA World Cup has been finalized. The group stages have been set, and the match timings confirmed. Please note that the kickoff time for the match between Turkey and Paraguay on June 19 in the San Francisco Bay Area has been moved one hour earlier and will now begin at 11:00 PM ET.
Consequently, the match between Brazil and Haiti in Philadelphia has been rescheduled to start 30 minutes earlier, now beginning at 8:30 PM ET.
FIFA Contributed to this column
