In addition to the host countries, a total of seven nations have now qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup following the recent international break.
With the conclusion of the first international break of 2025, several teams have secured their places at the expanded 48-team World Cup.
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The tournament will, for the first time, be hosted by three countries: the United States, Canada, and Mexico. As hosts, all three nations are guaranteed automatic qualification. Four more spots have now been confirmed following this week's fixtures.
The Japan national team became the first country to qualify for the World Cup outside of the automatic host spots, following a 2-0 win over Bahrain on Thursday, 20 March. Impressively, the Asian giants still have two more qualifying matches to play.
Iran became the second Asian nation to qualify, marking their fourth successive appearance at the competition.
New Zealand also booked their spot in North America, which will be only the third time they feature at the global showpiece.
Meanwhile, reigning World Cup champions Argentina secured qualification for the 2026 edition, where they will aim to become the first-ever nation to defend the title in an expanded format.
The seven teams qualified so far:
USA (hosts)
Canada (hosts)
Mexico (hosts)
Japan (AFC region)
Iran (AFC region)
New Zealand (OFC region)
Argentina (CONMEBOL region)
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By Lukhanyo Mtuta
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