28 seats have been reserved for the 2026 World Cup: England "breaks out", Qatar and Saudi Arabia are directly connected, Ronaldo doubles as the sole top scorer

In the early morning of October 15th, the World Cup European, Asian and African regions concluded many focus competitions. With the end of the game, 6 more teams were directly qualified to advance to next year’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. They are South Africa, Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal from the African region, Qatar and Saudi Arabia from the Asian region, and England from the European region. So far, 28 seats have been confirmed among the top 48 for next year's World Cup, and all direct quotas for Asia, Africa and South America have been allocated.

At 0:00 on the 15th, the competition for the final round of the African region started first. After beating Mauritania 4-0 at home, Senegal in Group B defeated the Democratic Republic of Congo with a 2-point advantage and successfully won a ticket to the World Cup; South Africa in Group C also performed well. After defeating Rwanda 3-0, the team defeated Rwanda with a 1-point advantage. Nigeria, a wealthy team in the same group, has once again entered the World Cup stage after 2010. Also in Group F, Ivory Coast qualified for the World Cup in the last round. After defeating Kenya 3-0 in this round, this West African team also suppressed Gabon with a 1-point advantage and successfully qualified for the World Cup.

At this point, all the direct quotas for the African region have been generated. The above three teams, together with Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, and Cape Verde, which have previously qualified, will become the representatives of African football in next year’s US-Canada-Mexico World Cup. Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cameroon and Nigeria will start the play-off competition with the best four groups ranked second to compete for qualifications for an intercontinental play-off.

In the Asian region, the competition in the fourth stage also came to an end this past night. Qatar and Saudi Arabia are the two teams with better performances. They have won the last two places in the region that directly qualify for the World Cup. Among them, Qatar is the second time in team history and the first time to enter the World Cup through the world preliminaries. Three years ago, they directly qualified as the host nation. Saudi Arabia has qualified for the World Cup for the seventh time in team history, and it is also the third consecutive time that the team has qualified. At this point, all direct quotas for the Asian region have been generated. In addition to the above three teams, Japan, Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Jordan and Australia have entered the World Cup. It is worth mentioning that the World Cup preliminaries in Asia are not over yet, and Iraq and the United Arab Emirates will also compete directly for a spot in the intercontinental play-offs.

Compared to the two continents of Asia and Africa, where all quotas have been allocated, Europe's qualifications for the World Cup are still in intense competition, and England has become the first to "break through". As the team defeated Latvia in this round of competition, the "Three Lions" not only secured first place in the group in advance, but also became the first team in Europe to qualify for next year's World Cup. In recent years, England's overall performance has been very stable, and its performance in competitions has been even more impressive. The team in this World Cup preliminaries has won all 6 games without conceding a goal. I hope that during the World Cup next year, England can continue this good state under the leadership of Tuchel and once again launch an impact on the Hercules Cup.

In other games in the European zone, Portugal faced Hungary at home in the fourth round of Group F. In the first half, Shaloi took the lead. Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 41st goal in the World Cup preliminaries and became the top scorer in history. After changing sides and fighting again, Dias hit the center post and Soboszlai was tied. In the end Portugal 2-2 Hungary. In terms of standings, Portugal missed the chance to qualify for the World Cup in advance with 10 points from 4 rounds, and Hungary was second with 5 points.

In the fourth round of Group I, Spain faced Bulgaria at home. In the first half, Lenormand assisted Merino to score a header, and Spain temporarily 1-0 Bulgaria; in the second half, Merino scored another victory, Alex Garcia caused Chernev's own goal, Merino made a point, and Oyarzabal shot. In the end, Spain 4-0 Bulgaria, winning all four games and continuing to lead the standings.

In the 8th round of Group E, Italy faced Israel. In the stoppage time of the first half, Retegui hit a penalty kick and opened the scoring for the team. Changing sides to fight again, Reteji stole the ball in the frontcourt and shot through the goalkeeper to expand the lead. The game entered stoppage time, Dimarco sent an assist, and Gianluca Mancini scored a header in the penalty area to seal the score. In the end, Italy defeated its opponent 3-0.

Teams that have qualified for the 2026 World Cup: United States, Mexico, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Iran, Argentina, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay, Colombia, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Qatar, England, Saudi Arabia, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal.

Teams participating in the cross-continental play-offs: New Caledonia, Bolivia

Audit: Lin Xihe