World Cup 2026 Qualifiers: The Three Lions finish first in Europe

Excluding the play-offs, the 2026 World Cup qualifiers will conclude after the FIFA Days next month. However, as of the penultimate round of matches, Europe has only secured the first ticket to the finals, for England.

C APE V ERDE IS THE MOST INTERESTING NEW FACE

Having won all six of their opening games, and yet to concede a goal, England became the first European team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The latest was a 5-0 win away to Latvia, with Harry Kane scoring twice. Thomas Tuchel's side won the outright win largely because their opponents were too weak. The closest was Albania (7 points behind England with two games to go). Serbia have slumped to the point where coach Dragan Stojkovic had to resign after the defeat to Albania. Latvia and Andorra are the other two teams in the group.

After South America last month, it is the turn of Asia and Africa to finish their World Cup qualifying in this round. Qatar and Saudi Arabia have secured the last two spots representing Asia (along with South Korea, Japan, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan who have already secured tickets).

Most notable in Africa is the first ticket to the World Cup finals for the Cape Verde team. This team finished the qualifying round with a clear gap before the "giant" Cameroon. Cape Verde will be the second smallest team (in terms of population, Cape Verde has just over 500,000 people) to have ever had the honor of competing in the biggest football tournament on the planet. The smallest team is Iceland (nearly 400,000 people, at the 2018 World Cup).

Harry Kane (right) scored twice against Latvia to help England qualify

PHOTO: REUTERS

A former Portuguese colony, Cape Verde only played its first competitive matches in the 2000 Africa Cup of Nations and 2002 World Cup qualifiers. Of the 52 players called up to the Cape Verde squad in the last 12 months, none had played for a local club. After a 3-0 loss to Lesotho for fielding an illegal player, which left the group stage in a tight spot, South Africa finally secured their place in the group stage with a 3-0 win over Rwanda, overtaking the team above them, Benin (who lost 4-0 to Nigeria), right at the finish line.

Along with South Africa and Cape Verde, 7 other tickets to the World Cup finals in Africa were given to Egypt, Senegal, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Tunisia, Ghana.

CONCACAF HAS NOT GIVEN OUT TICKETS YET

In any case, Europe has already decided the ticket to the World Cup finals for England (top of Group K). Switzerland (Group B), France (Group D), Spain (Group E), Portugal (Group F), Norway (Group I), Belgium (Group J), Croatia (Group L) are all almost certain to take the top spot in their groups. The only real competition is between Germany/Slovakia (Group A), Denmark/Scotland (Group C), Netherlands/Poland (Group G), Austria/Bosnia (Group H). All will be decided by mid-November.

In addition to the 12 group winners who go straight to the finals, Europe still has 4 places for teams to play in the play-offs in this region (ie not the global play-offs). In principle, the 12 second-placed teams and the 4 teams with the best results in the recent Nations League (not counting the teams that have already won tickets or finished second in the group) will play in the play-offs to determine 4 more tickets to represent Europe.

The most tense situation is the CONCACAF region: no team has really gained an advantage, let alone won a ticket to the finals, although the CONCACAF region will also finish the qualifying round next month. In addition to the hosts who are automatically qualified for the World Cup, the US, Mexico, and Canada, there are still 3 direct tickets to the finals and 2 global play-off spots for CONCACAF teams.

There are 12 teams competing in 3 groups in this region, with the top 3 advancing to the finals. Currently leading after 4 matches are Suriname (Group A), Jamaica (Group B) and Honduras (Group C). Each team has 2 matches left, with Bermuda (Group B) the only team whose hopes have ended.

Two of the three best runners-up in the CONCACAF region will play a global play-off against New Caledonia (Oceania), Bolivia (South America), one Asian team (UAE or Iraq) and one African team (Cameroon, DR Congo, Gabon or Nigeria) to determine the final two tickets to the 2026 World Cup.

The World Cup qualifiers in South America have ended with tickets to the finals belonging to Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil, and Paraguay.

28 FINAL QUALIFIERS HAVE BEEN DETERMINED

As of October 15, 28 out of 48 teams have qualified for the 2026 World Cup, including the three co-host teams of the US, Mexico and Canada and 25 teams that passed the qualifying round. Of which, the Asian region (8 places) are Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia.

After the upcoming FIFA Days in November, 90% of the teams participating in the finals will be determined, leaving only the European and intercontinental play-off spots. After that, FIFA will conduct the draw for the 2026 World Cup finals.

Lingnan

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vong-loai-world-cup-2026-tam-su-can-dich-dau-tien-tai-chau-au-185251015223641555.htm