In order to take part in the World Cup each country must first qualify through a series of matches, usually over two legs. The winners of each round are then given a place at the finals and the remaining places will be decided from intercontinental play-offs involving teams from Africa, Asia, North/Central America and Oceania.
The process is not simple. Each confederation has its own qualifying rounds, with the top teams from Europe and South America earning berths through their performances in UEFA and CONCACAF respectively. In addition, the hosts and the best runners-up from each federation are guaranteed spots in the tournament.
Qualifying for the 2026 World Cup has already started. The three lowest-ranked nations in CONCACAF, Anguilla, Turks and Caicos Islands and the British Virgin Islands, competed in two-legged ties to determine who would join the rest of the continent’s nations in the second round of qualifying.
In a bid to make the qualifying process fairer, UEFA introduced a new system in November 2023. It saw the 54 FIFA-affiliated countries split into nine groups of five or six nations who played each other in a home-and-away hexa-format. The group winners and the six best runners-up then went through to a second round of qualification that concluded in June.
While this was designed to improve fairness, it has raised issues of its own. Academics Laszlo Csato, Kjetil Haugen and Alex Krumer have argued that the coexistence of the Nations League with the Euro qualifiers means that sides that reach the finals through the league can gain advantage over those who have a traditional route to qualification.
