Qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup began on Oct. 12, 2023, when minor nations from the Asian confederation played their first round of matches. Myanmar's Lwin Moe Aung scored the very first goal in a 5-1 win over Macau.

Most confederations now have qualifying well underway, but we're a long way from discovering the full list of 45 nations who will join hosts United States , Mexico and Canada .

Japan became the very first country to qualify on March 20, followed by New Zealand, Iran and Argentina a few days later.

What can be decided this week

European qualifying only started in March, while Africa takes a break in June and Oceania is wrapped up.

The main stage of Asian qualifying completes this week, meaning another two nations will punch their ticket to the World Cup.

See Full Page