Africa - 9 (up from 5) Asia - 8 (up from 4 or 5) Europe - 16 (up from 13) North, Central America and Caribbean - 6 (up from 3 or 4) Oceania - 1 (from 0 or 1) South America - 6 (up from 4 or 5)
Fifa is proposing a six-nation play-off tournament to decide the last two slots at the 48-team World Cup in 2026.
Should the proposals be ratified, as expected, it will consist of one team from each confederation except Uefa, with the final team taken from the confederation of the host country.
Two teams will be seeded based on their Fifa ranking, and then face the winners of two knockout games involving the four unseeded teams, with the prize a place in the World Cup.
The play-off will be played in the World Cup's host country, with November 2025 suggested as a possible date for the 2026 qualifying play-off.
It will also double as a test event for the main tournament.
Africa - 9 (up from 5) Asia - 8 (up from 4 or 5) Europe - 16 (up from 13) North, Central America and Caribbean - 6 (up from 3 or 4) Oceania - 1 (from 0 or 1) South America - 6 (up from 4 or 5)
If every region's qualifying tournament matches to the World Rankings (eg the top 9 ranked teams from Africa qualify, the top 8 teams from Asia etc), then here are the lowest ranked teams from each continent that would qualify (ranking in brackets)
Africa - Cote d'Ivoire (47) Asia - Qatar (84) Europe - Turkey (26) North America - Haiti (69) Oceania - New Zealand (112 one hundred and twelve) South America - Peru (18)
Meanwhile, 10 European teams and 2 South American teams ranked in the top 48 would be excluded.
Remind me why there would be no UEFA team in the playoff. To make room for Tahiti??
Need to control the amount of South American Teams that qualify else its going to get stupid.
By going up to six teams from South America it means only four teams from the whole continent wont qualify, adding anymore and it'll make Qualification from the region completely pointless... Maybe to counter that they should combine Qualification for both Americas
I think a tournament for the lesser nations with a couple of places in the World Cup finals is a good idea. Maybe we could avoid games like San Marino v Spain!
I think a tournament for the lesser nations with a couple of places in the World Cup finals is a good idea. Maybe we could avoid games like San Marino v Spain!
I think the eight lowest FIFA Ranked teams from Europe should go into a Pre-Qualifying stage
The winners of the said tournament which can easily happen briefly over a Summer so it doesnt interrupt current proceedings then joins the current Qualifying format for Europe... Will mean the likes of San Marino will constantly be playing Andorra etc. they'll then potentially learn to win games rather than learning how to avoid a whipping which will then surely help for future years.
Comments
Africa - 9 (up from 5)
Asia - 8 (up from 4 or 5)
Europe - 16 (up from 13)
North, Central America and Caribbean - 6 (up from 3 or 4)
Oceania - 1 (from 0 or 1)
South America - 6 (up from 4 or 5)
Fifa is proposing a six-nation play-off tournament to decide the last two slots at the 48-team World Cup in 2026.
Should the proposals be ratified, as expected, it will consist of one team from each confederation except Uefa, with the final team taken from the confederation of the host country.
Two teams will be seeded based on their Fifa ranking, and then face the winners of two knockout games involving the four unseeded teams, with the prize a place in the World Cup.
The play-off will be played in the World Cup's host country, with November 2025 suggested as a possible date for the 2026 qualifying play-off.
It will also double as a test event for the main tournament.
Africa - Cote d'Ivoire (47)
Asia - Qatar (84)
Europe - Turkey (26)
North America - Haiti (69)
Oceania - New Zealand (112 one hundred and twelve)
South America - Peru (18)
Meanwhile, 10 European teams and 2 South American teams ranked in the top 48 would be excluded.
Remind me why there would be no UEFA team in the playoff. To make room for Tahiti??
By going up to six teams from South America it means only four teams from the whole continent wont qualify, adding anymore and it'll make Qualification from the region completely pointless... Maybe to counter that they should combine Qualification for both Americas
Sorted!!... Tahiti and American Samoa can then have their rival matches against Mongolia and Guam
The winners of the said tournament which can easily happen briefly over a Summer so it doesnt interrupt current proceedings then joins the current Qualifying format for Europe... Will mean the likes of San Marino will constantly be playing Andorra etc. they'll then potentially learn to win games rather than learning how to avoid a whipping which will then surely help for future years.