Italian former footballer Alessandro Del Piero holds the Fifa World Cup Trophy. Photo / AFP
The final line-up for the 2026 World Cup will be decided over the next week, with 16 teams competing for the last four places allocated to European countries and six teams battling it out in Mexico for two spots.
Twelve runners-up from the qualifying groups and four teams that earned spots through their Uefa Nations League results have a second chance to punch their ticket to football’s global showpiece.
Here’s a look at the six final playoff routes that will determine the remaining qualifiers for the first 48-team World Cup:
Four-time World Cup winners Italy face immense pressure as they attempt to qualify for a first appearance at the tournament since 2014.
After lifting the trophy in 2006, Italy’s record at the World Cup has been dire. They suffered two successive group-stage exits before missing out entirely on the 2018 and 2022 editions.
In order to avoid another qualifying failure, Italy must overcome Northern Ireland in Bergamo, Italy, tomorrow NZT, before a potential final against Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina on April 1.
“It’s only normal that there’s pressure - only if you had no blood in your veins would you not feel it,” said Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso, who played in the 2006 final which the Azzurri won on penalties against France.
Northern Ireland are big underdogs against Italy but hope to end a 40-year absence from the World Cup.
Wales host Bosnia in Cardiff in the other semifinal.
Manager Craig Bellamy told AFP this month that he “feels a responsibility” to lead Wales to a second straight finals. Their appearance in Qatar was the country’s first at the World Cup in 64 years.
The winner of Uefa Path A joins Canada, Qatar and Switzerland in Group B.
Ukraine’s footballers will hope to lift the morale of a country at war by competing at a first World Cup in 20 years. To get there, they need to beat Sweden on neutral ground in Valencia, Spain, and then Poland or Albania.
Sweden picked up just two points in a dismal qualifying campaign but a team now coached by former Chelsea and Brighton boss Graham Potter will get another shot on the strength of their Nations League performances.
However, Sweden will be without key man Alexander Isak as the Liverpool forward is not yet ready to return from a broken leg suffered in December.
Poland can count on Robert Lewandowski who is eyeing a third World Cup, but Albania - led by former Arsenal and Barcelona defender Sylvinho - believe they have what it takes to qualify for the first time.
The winner of Uefa Path B joins the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia in Group F.
Kosovo stand two wins away from a first major tournament a decade on from their admission to Uefa and Fifa. They came second in their qualifying group after two wins over Sweden and a victory in Slovenia.
“It’s a massive opportunity for us. The whole country is buzzing with excitement. Everyone’s over the moon,” Kosovo captain Vedat Muriqi told Fifa.com.
Mallorca striker Muriqi sits second only to Kylian Mbappe in La Liga this season with 18 goals.
The 31-year-old is also Kosovo’s all-time record scorer.
Slovakia, who last featured at the World Cup in 2010, host Kosovo in Bratislava while Turkey and Romania square off in Istanbul.
Turkey have not played at the World Cup since a surprise third-place finish in 2002. Romania’s most recent appearance was in 1998.
The winner of Uefa Path C joins USA, Paraguay and Australia in Group D.
Troy Parrott’s heroics snatched the Republic of Ireland a playoff berth, but there is much still to be done if the Irish are to return to the World Cup stage.
Ireland, who haven’t featured at the tournament since 2002, head to Prague to take on the Czech Republic in the semifinals. The winner of that tie will host the final against Denmark or North Macedonia.
“There’s a quiet confidence in the group growing together, it’s great to see but we know there’s a lot of hard work to come,” said Ireland assistant John O’Shea.
Denmark missed out on automatic qualification after a dramatic defeat in Scotland but will be expected to see off North Macedonia, whose lone tournament appearance came at Euro 2020.
Kasper Schmeichel is absent for Denmark after revealing last week that he may have played his final game, with two surgeries required to repair his damaged shoulder.
The winner of Uefa Path D joins Mexico, South Africa and South Korea in Group A.
Two of the final remaining tickets to the World Cup will be up for grabs when a high‑stakes playoff tournament kicks off in Mexico tomorrow, bringing together six teams from across the globe.
New Caledonia, Suriname, Jamaica, Bolivia, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo form the diverse cast of hopefuls each chasing one of the two berths on offer for this year’s expanded 48‑team finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The mini‑tournament in Guadalajara and Monterrey also serves as a test run for two cities set to host World Cup matches in June, giving Mexico a chance to showcase its readiness after recent security concerns.
The straight‑knockout playoffs begin on Friday NZT, with the tiny French Pacific territory of New Caledonia facing the “Reggae Boyz” of Jamaica in Guadalajara.
The winner will advance to meet the Democratic Republic of Congo at the same venue on April 1, with a World Cup ticket on the line. Whoever emerges will join Group K alongside Colombia, Portugal and Uzbekistan.
In Monterrey, Bolivia — seeking their first World Cup appearance since the 1994 finals in the US — take on Suriname, the former Dutch colony on the northeastern coast
The victor will move on to a winner‑take‑all clash with Iraq next week for the second berth on offer.
The team that survives the Monterrey pathway will land in a daunting Group I, where France, Norway and Senegal await.
On paper, and according to the latest Fifa rankings, Iraq and the DR Congo will start as the heavy favourites to advance out of the playoffs.
Iraq’s preparations, however, have been hampered by the outbreak of war in the Middle East triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.
Iraq coach Graham Arnold initially appealed to Fifa to postpone his team’s playoff, stating that many players and backroom staff had been left stranded due to the war.
Players and staff based in Baghdad made it out of the country after reportedly travelling overland to Jordan before flying out of Amman to reach Mexico.
Iraq are bidding to reach the World Cup for only the second time, having qualified for the 1986 finals in Mexico where they lost all three group games against Paraguay, Belgium, and Mexico.
For DR Congo, the wait to secure their second World Cup finals appearance has been even longer.
The country, formerly Zaire, last played at the 1974 World Cup finals in Germany, where they were eliminated in the group stage after defeats to Scotland, Yugoslavia and Brazil without scoring a goal.
DR Congo though have grounds for believing that the long wait to return to the finals could finally be over after battling through African qualifying, eliminating Cameroon and Nigeria to reach these playoffs.
This week’s tournament is taking place just weeks after an explosion of violence in Guadalajara and other parts of Mexico triggered by the death of a notorious cartel drug lord.
More than 70 people were killed in the violence, but Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum and world governing body Fifa have insisted the unrest will have no bearing on the World Cup.
Mexico, which is hosting 13 matches at the World Cup shared between Guadalajara, Monterrey and Mexico City, has said that more than 100,000 security personnel will be deployed to protect fans at the tournament.