The World Cup has 42 teams, 4 teams are participating for the first time, Italy is still working hard, and the Chinese men’s football team has been eliminated.

With the conclusion of the European Division group stage of the World Preliminaries, 42 of the 48 places for the 2026 United States, Canada and Mexico World Cup have now been confirmed, leaving 6 places, 4 from the European Division play-offs and 2 from the Intercontinental play-offs.

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Advanced teams

Host 3 teams: the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

European Division: 16 is decided on 12, namely England, France, Croatia, Portugal, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, and Scotland.

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Most of the European competitions are frequent visitors to the World Cup. Norway has participated the least frequently. This will be its fourth time participating.

8 teams in the Asian Division: Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan, South Korea, Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.

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Among them, Uzbekistan and Jordan are participating in the World Cup for the first time, while Qatar is participating for the second time. It is a pity that the Chinese men's football team failed in their second World Cup.

After the Chinese men’s football team lost to Indonesia in the top 18, they were definitely eliminated and missed the 2026 US-Canada-Mexico World Cup.

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Oceania Division 1 team: New Zealand.

There are 6 teams in the South American Division: Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay, Colombia, and Paraguay.

Among them, Ecuador has participated in the least number of times. This will be their fifth time participating in the World Cup.

There are 9 teams in the African Division: Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Cote d'Ivoire, and Senegal.

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Cape Verde is also participating in the World Cup for the first time and has become a beneficiary of the expansion of the World Cup.

Concacaf Football Association has three teams: Panama, Curacao, and Haiti.

Haiti is participating in the World Cup for the second time, and Curacao is participating in the World Cup for the first time. As the World Cup expands, fans can recognize more countries and flags at the World Cup.

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European Division Play-offs

The European Division play-offs are 16-4.

The second and fourth highest-ranked teams in the UEFA Nations League of the 12 group stages, a total of 16 teams are divided into 4 groups for the semi-finals and finals, and the winning team in the group enters the World Cup.

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The 16 teams are: Italy, Denmark, Turkey, Ukraine, Poland, Wales, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ireland, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Romania, Sweden, North Macedonia, and Northern Ireland.

The highest ranking among them is Italy, ranked 9th in FIFA, but now it is still working hard for the World Cup. In the last two World Cup qualifiers, Italy failed in the play-offs. I wonder if they can break through this time.

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Intercontinental play-offs

The intercontinental play-offs are 2 out of 6.

The seeded teams are Iraq and Democratic Congo, and the unseeded teams are Bolivia, Jamaica, Suriname, and New Caledonia. The two teams that advanced here are also teams that have participated in few World Cups.

The expansion of the World Cup will benefit some teams. Some will be able to return to the World Cup after many years, and some will even participate in the World Cup for the first time. Unfortunately, the expansion of the Asian division was originally beneficial to the Chinese men's football team, and in the top 18, the Chinese men's football team is not without hope.

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When Saudi Arabia and Australia were in poor condition, the Chinese men's football team failed to seize the opportunity to win the game, paving the way for the final elimination, and the 0-1 loss to Indonesia became the last straw.

In competitive sports, luck is part of the equation, but food is the original sin. Now we can only prepare for the 2030 World Cup.