By beating Eswatini 3-0 at home, the island nation of Cape Verde became the latest team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The 4,000 square kilometer country was supposed to have completed its qualifying campaign last week, but a 3-3 draw with Libya delayed the celebrations. Now, there is no stopping Cape Verde's joy as they make their first appearance at the world's biggest football tournament.
Before Cape Verde, Ghana also succeeded in making World Cup appearances a habit. Mohamed Kudus' decisive goal helped them overcome Comoros, while their main rivals Madagascar lost 1-4 to Mali to help Ghana top Group I, appearing in the World Cup for the fifth time in the last six. Otto Addo's job now is to create a strong team to repeat the miracle of reaching the quarter-finals of 2010.
So far, 6 African teams have secured tickets, including Cape Verde, Ghana, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. The other 3 spots in Groups B, C, F will be determined today, October 14. The 4 best second-placed teams will advance to the play-off round, competing for a ticket to the intercontinental play-off round.
At the moment, South America (CONMEBOL) and Oceania (OFC) have completed the qualifying rounds. The only OFC representative to win a direct ticket is New Zealand, while French New Caledonia will hope for the intercontinental play-off round. CONMEBOL teams are Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay. Bolivia will qualify through the same route as New Caledonia.
In Asia (AFC), 6/8 slots have been determined, including Japan - the first team in the world to win a ticket, not counting the 3 host countries, along with Iran, Uzbekistan, Korea Republic, Jordan and Australia. The remaining two direct tickets will be available today, when the final round of the fourth qualifying round ends.
CONCACAF, which has three direct spots, is yet to confirm its three spots, while UEFA, which has 16 spots, is in the final stages of qualifying. Some UEFA nations can celebrate today, like Norway, England or Portugal, but others will have to wait until November.
The island nation, which is only larger than three Vietnamese provinces, has qualified for the World Cup for the first time.
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Source: https://tienphong.vn/22-tam-ve-toi-world-cup-2026-da-co-chu-va-do-la-post1787027.tpo
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