World Cup Qualifying
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national
association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's
FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...
. Qualifying tournaments are held within the six
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
continental zones, each organized by their respective confederations: AFC (Asia),
CAF CAF or caf may refer to: Armed forces *Canadian Armed Forces (Canadian Forces), the Canadian Air Force, Army, and Navy *Canadian Air Force, now the Royal Canadian Air Force *Republic of China Air Force, the air force of the Republic of China (Tai ...
(Africa),
CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; typeset for branding purposes since 2018 as Concacaf), is one of FIFA's six continental governing bodies for association football. Its 4 ...
(North and Central America and the Caribbean),
CONMEBOL CONMEBOL ( ) or CSF (; ; ), is the continental governing body of football in South America and it is one of FIFA's six continental confederations. The oldest continental confederation in the world, its headquarters are located in Luque, Parag ...
(South America), OFC (Oceania), and
UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
(Europe). For each World Cup, FIFA decides the number of places in the finals allocated to each of the zones, based on the numbers and relative strengths of the confederations' teams. As a courtesy, the host receives an automatic berth selection, as has happened with the immediate past tournament winner during much of the competition's history. All other finalists are determined on a standalone qualifying round achievement without regard to previous achievements.


History

The berths for the inaugural
1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be on J ...
tournament were filled by invitation only. The
1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...
one was the first one to have an actual qualifying phase. The first ever World Cup qualifying match was played on 11 June 1933, when Sweden defeated Estonia 6–2 in Stockholm, and the first goal was scored 7 minutes into the game, with some sources attributing it to Swedish captain Knut Kroon while others credit it as an
own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...
by the Estonian goalkeeper
Evald Tipner Evald Tipner (13 March 1906 – 18 July 1947) was an Estonian footballer widely regarded as one of the greatest Estonian goalkeepers of all time. He was capped 66 times for Estonia national football team, 7 times for bandy national team and onc ...
. The number of teams entering qualification stages has increased steadily, and in response the final tournament has also been expanded (having 16 teams until 1978, then 24 between 1982 and 1994, then 32 between 1998 and 2022, and finally 48 from 2026 onwards). While the format of the qualifying tournaments has evolved, teams have always been grouped into zones which have remained relatively unchanged and roughly correspond to the
continent A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention (norm), convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as ...
s. The teams from each zone compete for a fixed number of berths for the zone, with a limited number of places being awarded to winners of intercontinental play-offs.


Qualification berths by continent

The table below lists the numbers of berths allocated by FIFA for each continent in each tournament. It also shows the total number of teams that entered and played in every qualification cycle. In the table, "H" denotes an automatic spot for the host, "C" denotes an automatic spot for the defending champion, and "inv" indicates the number of teams that were invited in 1930. Places in intercontinental play-offs are represented as fractions, as follows: * 0.5 – a place in a direct play-off * 0.25 – a place in a semi-final play-off (where the winner would then face yet another team for a spot in the finals) * – a place in a play-off tournament where two out of six teams would qualify ; Notes


First appearance in qualification by team

Only teams that played at least one match are considered for first appearance. Teams that withdrew before the qualification, or that qualified to the World Cup by
walkover John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins (athlete)">William Robbins to refuse to race in protest. A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over"), is awarded to the opposing team/player, etc., if there are no other players avail ...
due to other teams' withdrawals, are not considered. ;Teams' entries before their actual debuts in qualification ;Successor and renamed teams ;Other notes


Overview of teams' participations

The below table shows how every team has participated in each World Cup qualification. Key * = successful qualifying campaign * = did not take part in qualifying * = participated in the final tournament , - style="line-height:1em" ! Team ! ! 19
34
! 19
38
! 19
50
! 19
54
! 19
58
! 19
62
! 19
66
! 19
70
! 19
74
! 19
78
! 19
82
! 19
86
! 19
90
! 19
94
! 19
98
! 20
02
! 20
06
! 20
10
! 20
14
! 20
18
! 20
22
! 20
26
! 20
30
! 20
34
! Current
confederation ;Non-participating incarnations ;Continental allocations


Overall team records

The below table compares the overall records of all teams that have participated in qualification. Teams are ordered by points using the
three points for a win Three points for a win is a standard used in many sports leagues and group tournaments, especially in association football, in which 3 points are awarded to the team winning a match, with no points awarded to the losing team. If the game is draw ...
system, then by goal difference, and then by goals scored. Note that this order does not represent any official rankings, and qualification tournaments are not direct competitions among all teams. The "Qualifying attempts" column counts qualifying campaigns where the team played at least one match that was not annulled. An attempt is treated as "successful" if the team gained the right to participate in the finals, even if it did not appear there eventually. As per statistical convention in football, goals scored during
extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
are counted towards matches' scorelines and outcomes, while goals scored during penalty shoot-outs are not. Annulled matches are not counted; for matches that were annulled and then replayed, only the replays are counted. For matches where the scorelines were awarded, the awarded scorelines, and not the original ones (if any), are counted. Ecuador was deducted 3 points in the 2026 qualifying, which is reflected in the table. Teams in bold are currently participating or are yet to start in the 2026 qualification. The table is updated to the matches played in November 2024.


Qualification tournament rules

Qualification tournaments generally consist of a number of stages, made up of groups or knock-out ties.


Groups

In all group tournaments, three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. FIFA has set the order of the tie-breakers for teams that finish level on points: #
goal difference Goal difference, goal differential or points difference is a form of tiebreaker used to rank sport teams which finish on equal points in a league competition. Either "goal difference" or "points difference" is used, depending on whether matches ar ...
in all group matches #greater number of goals scored in all group matches Where teams are still not able to be separated, the following tie-breakers are used: #greater number of points obtained in matches between the tied teams #goal difference in matches between the tied teams #greater number of goals scored in matches between the tied teams # goals scored away from home in matches between the tied teams, if the tie is only between two teams Where teams are still equal, then a play-off on neutral ground, with extra time and penalties if necessary will be played if FIFA deems such a play-off able to be fitted within the coordinated international match calendar. If this is not deemed feasible, then the result will be determined by fair play points and then the drawing of lots. Note that this order of tie-breaker application has not always been applied. While it was used in the 2010 qualifiers, the qualification for the 2006 World Cup used the head-to-head comparison prior to goal difference (although this system was – where applicable – used in the 2006 finals themselves). If these rules had applied in 2006, then
Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
would have qualified rather than
Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
.


Home-and-away ties

Most knock-out qualifiers (such as the inter-confederation play-offs and many preliminary ties) are played over two legs. The team that scores a greater aggregate number of goals qualifies. Away goals rule applies. If these rules fail to determine the winner,
extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...
and
penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...
s are used. Occasionally – usually when one entrant lacks adequate facilities to host international matches – ties are played over a single leg, in which case matches level after 90 minutes will go to extra time and then to a penalty shootout if required. Alternatively, "home" matches can be played in neutral countries, or occasionally one team will host both matches. In the latter case the visiting team will still be considered as the "home" team for one of the legs – which may determine which side advances under the away goals rule, as occurred in CONCACAF qualification in 2010.


See also

*
FIFA World Cup records and statistics As of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, 80 national teams have competed at the finals of the men’s FIFA World Cup. Brazil is the only team to have appeared in all 22 tournaments to date, with Germany having participated in 20, Italy and Argentina in 18 a ...
*
FIFA Women's World Cup qualification The FIFA Women's World Cup qualification is the process a national women's association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, No ...
*
UEFA European Championship qualifying The UEFA European Championship qualifying, branded as the European Qualifiers, is the process that UEFA-affiliated national football teams go through in order to qualify for the UEFA European Championship. In this article, the years represent t ...
*
AFC Asian Cup qualifiers The AFC Asian Cup qualification is the process that a national association football team goes through to qualify for the final tournament of AFC Asian Cup. The qualification reduces the large field of eligible entrants from 47 to just 24 for the f ...
*
CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification This page is a summary of the CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification, the process that CONCACAF-affiliated national association football teams go through in order to qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The CONCACAF Gold Cup is an international associatio ...
*
Asian nations at the FIFA World Cup Association football is among the most popular sports in Asia, with 13 members of the Asian Football Confederation having competed at the sport's biggest international event, the men's FIFA World Cup. The highest ranked result in the World Cup fo ...
* African nations at the FIFA World Cup *
North, Central American and Caribbean nations at the FIFA World Cup Association football is the most popular sport in almost all North, Central American and Caribbean countries, and eleven members of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, CONCACAF, have competed at the sp ...
* South American nations at the FIFA World Cup *
Oceanian nations at the FIFA World Cup Association football is one of the popular sports in Oceania, and 2 members of the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) have competed at the sport's biggest event – the men's FIFA World Cup. Overview *Bold indicates year(s) of best finis ...
* European nations at the FIFA World Cup


References


External links


History of the FIFA World Cup preliminary competition (by year)
Published by FIFA in November 2009; archived from the original by
Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...
on 23 October 2013.
FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition Statistics (PDF)
(archived 31 October 2008)
FIFA World Cup Preliminary History (PDF)
(archived 2 September 2009)
FIFA World Cup 2022 Regulations

FIFA – official documents
{{Countries at the FIFA World Cup