2026 World Cup Qualifiers Details: Format, Dates, and Updates

All football fans and supporters are following all the matches related to the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, as many are waiting for the final result of these qualifiers, because they will determine the 45 teams that will belong to the host countries (Mexico, Canada, and the United States of America), and these qualifiers began on September 7, 2023 and will end in March 2026, and the participants in these qualifiers are 211 teams, and in the following lines we will explain to you everything related to this topic in detail.

2026 World Cup Qualifiers The following will explain to you the new 2026 World Cup qualifiers system for this season, which the FIFA Executive Committee announced on May 19, 2023, dividing all teams into only nine groups, each group containing 6 teams. This is due to the increase in the number of teams participating in the World Cup, as their number reached 48 teams compared to the previous season, which was 32 teams. The leaders of their groups will qualify directly for the 2026 World Cup, while the best four runners-up in their groups in the play-offs to determine the team that will qualify will participate in the World Cup qualifiers between the federations.

The group stage will be played over two legs, and the group leaders will qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

While in the play-off stage, the best four runners-up will be drawn from the nine groups, to qualify for the African play-offs, and then determine which team represented the Confederation of African Football in the play-offs between the confederation.

World Cup Qualifiers Schedule In the following lines, we will show you the schedule of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, which are:

Round 2 Tuesday 10 September 2024 ● North Korea vs Qatar at 3pm.

● Indonesia vs Australia at 3pm.

● Saudi Arabia vs China at 3pm.

● At five o'clock in the evening, the match will be held between (Palestine vs. Jordan), (Kyrgyzstan vs. Uzbekistan), and (Oman vs. South Korea).

● As for the match between (Bahrain vs. Japan) and (UAE vs. Iran), it will be held at exactly 7:00 PM.

● Finally, the match between Kuwait and Iraq, which will be at nine o'clock in the evening.

The third round is on Thursday, October 10, 2024. ● China vs Australia match at 12:10 PM.

● At exactly five o'clock in the evening, there will be a match between (Jordan vs. South Korea), (Iran vs. Uzbekistan).

● The match between (Qatar vs. Kyrgyzstan), (UAE vs. North Korea), and (Oman vs. Kuwait) will be at 7:00 PM.

● While at nine o'clock in the evening, the match between (Saudi Arabia vs. Japan) and (Iraq vs. Palestine) will be held.

Round 4 Tuesday 15 October 2024 ● Palestine vs Kuwait and the time has not been determined.

● Japan vs Australia at 1.35pm.

● Iraq vs South Korea at 2 pm.

● China vs Indonesia at 3pm.

● At five o'clock in the evening, the match will be between (UAE vs. Uzbekistan), (North Korea vs. Kyrgyzstan).

● At exactly 7 pm, the match will be between (Qatar vs. Iran) and (Oman vs. Jordan).

● While the Saudi Arabia vs Bahrain match will be at 9 pm.

Round 5 Thursday 14 November 2024 The match time has not been determined yet.

● UAE vs Kyrgyzstan.

● Qatar vs. Uzbekistan.

● Kuwait vs South Korea.

● Bahrain vs China.

● North Korea vs Iran.

● Oman vs Palestine.

● Iraq vs Jordan.

● Australia vs Saudi Arabia.

Round 7 Friday 15 November 2024 ● Indonesia vs Japan.

Round 6 Tuesday 19 November 2024

● UAE vs Qatar.

● Palestine vs South Korea.

● Kyrgyzstan vs Iran.

● North Korea vs Uzbekistan.

● Oman vs Iraq.

● China vs Japan.

● Kuwait vs Jordan.

● Bahrain vs Australia.

● Indonesia vs Saudi Arabia.

Round 7 Thursday 20 March 2025 ● Qatar vs North Korea.

● Jordan vs Palestine.

● Uzbekistan vs Kyrgyzstan.

● Iran vs UAE.

● Iraq vs Kuwait.

● Saudi Arabia vs China.

● South Korea vs Oman.

● Japan vs Bahrain.

● Australia vs Indonesia.

Round 8 Tuesday 25 March 2025

● North Korea vs UAE.

● South Korea vs Jordan.

● Iran vs Uzbekistan.

● Qatar vs Kyrgyzstan.

● Kuwait vs Oman.

● Japan vs Saudi Arabia.

● Palestine vs Iraq.

● China vs Australia.

● Indonesia vs Bahrain.

Round 9 Thursday 5 June 2025 ● Qatar vs Iran.

● North Korea vs Kyrgyzstan.

● Oman vs Jordan.

● UAE vs Uzbekistan.

● Kuwait vs Palestine.

● Iraq vs South Korea.

● Bahrain vs Saudi Arabia.

● Indonesia vs China.

● Australia vs Japan.

Round 10 Tuesday 10 June 2025 ● Iran vs North Korea.

● Palestine vs Oman.

● Kyrgyzstan vs UAE.

● Uzbekistan vs. Qatar.

● South Korea vs Kuwait.

● China vs Bahrain.

● Jordan vs Iraq.

● Japan vs Indonesia.

● Saudi Arabia vs Australia.

2026 World Cup Qualifiers Groups Standings Here is the ranking of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers groups:

First group A ● Misr Club played 4 matches, won 3 matches, tied in one match, and did not lose any match.

● Guinea-Bissau played 4 matches, won 1, drew 3, and did not lose any matches.

● Burkina Faso played 4 matches, won 1, drew 2, lost 1.

● Sierra Leone played 4 matches, won 1, drew 2, and lost 1.

● Ethiopia played 4 matches, did not win any match, drew 3, and lost 1 match.

● Djibouti played 4 matches, did not win any match, drew one match, and lost 3.

Group B ● Sudan played 4 matches, won 3, drew 1, and did not lose any matches.

● Senegal played 4 matches, won 2, drew 2, and did not lose any match.

● Democratic Republic of the Congo played 4 matches, won 2, drew 1, and lost 1.

● Togo played 4 matches, did not win any, drew 3, and lost 1 match.

● South Sudan played 4 matches, did not win any, drew 2, and lost 2.

● Mauritania played 4 matches, did not win any match, drew one match, and lost 3.

Group C ● Rwanda played 4 matches, won 2, drew 1, and lost 1.

● South Africa played 4 matches, won 2, drew 1, and lost 1.

● Benin played 4 matches, won 2, drew 1, lost 1.

● Lesotho played 4 matches, won 1, drew 2, and lost 1.

● Nigeria played 4 matches, did not win any, drew 3, and lost 1 match.

● Zimbabwe played 4 matches, did not win any, drew 2, and lost 2.

Group D ● Cameroon Club played 4 matches, won 2, drew 2, and did not lose any match.

● Libya and Cape Verde played 4 matches, won 2, drew 1, and lost 1.

● Angola played 4 matches, won 1, drew 3, and did not lose any matches.

● Mauritius played 4 matches, won 1, drew 1, and lost 2.

● Eswatini played 4 matches, did not win or draw, but rather won the four matches.

Group E ● Morocco played 3 matches, won 3 matches, and did not draw or lose.

● Tanzania played 3 matches, won 2, did not draw, and lost 1 match.

● Niger played two matches, won one, lost one, and did not draw.

● Zambia played 4 matches, won 1, lost 3, and did not draw.

● Eritrea did not play any match.

● Congo played 2 matches and lost them.

Group F ● Ivory Coast played 4 matches, won 3, drew 1, and did not lose any match.

● Burundi played 4 matches, won 2, drew 1, and lost 1.

○ The Gambia and Fabon teams played 4 matches, won 2, lost 2, and did not draw any match.

● Kenya played 4 matches, won 1, drew 2, and lost 1 match.

● Seychelles played 4 matches and did not win or draw any of them.

Group G ● The Algerian and Mozambique teams played 4 matches, won 3, lost 1, and did not draw any matches.

● As for the Guinea and Botswana clubs, they played 4 matches, won 2, lost 2, and did not draw.

● Uganda played 4 matches, won 2, lost 2, and did not draw.

● Somalia played 4 matches, did not win or draw any match, but lost the 4 matches.

Group H ● Tunisia played 4 matches, won 3, drew 1, and did not lose any match.

● Malawi played 4 matches, won 2, lost 2, and did not draw.

● Namibia played 4 matches, won 1, lost 1, and drew 2.

● Liberia played 4 matches, won 1, lost 2, and drew 1.

● Equatorial Guinea played 4 matches, won 3, lost 1, and did not draw.

● Saotome and Princet played 4 matches, did not win or draw, but lost them.

Group I ● Ghana and Comoros played 4 matches, won 3, lost 1, and did not draw.

● Madagascar played 4 matches, won 2, lost 1, and drew 1.

● Mali played 4 matches, won 1 match, drew 2, and lost 1 match.

● Central Africa played 4 matches, won 1, lost 2, and drew 1.

● Chad played 4 matches and lost them.

2026 World Cup Qualifiers Asia Match Schedule In this section, we will show you the dates of the matches of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, which are:

● First round from 12 to 17 October 2023.

● The second round from November 16, 2023 to June 11, 2024.

● Third round from September 5, 2024 to June 10, 2025.

● Fourth round in October 2025.

● Fifth round in November 2025.

Here we have finished our topic which explains the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, where we explained the system that was followed in addition to the qualifiers schedule as well as the arrangement of the World Cup qualifiers groups in addition to the dates of the matches.