World Cup 2026: which countries have qualified and how did they do it?

Twenty-eight of the 48 places at the tournament have now been filled, including co-hosts Canada, Mexico and the USA

All nine of the automatic places have now been filled, with the four best runners-up - DR Congo, Gabon, Cameroon and Nigeria - competing in November's playoffs. Nigeria face Gabon while Cameroon take on DR Congo in the semi-finals, with all ties to be played in Morocco. The winner of the final will represent Africa in the intercontinental playoffs in March.

Egypt
Mohamed Salah scored twice as Hossam Hassan's side beat Djibouti 3-0 on Wednesday in Casablanca and made up for missing out on Qatar 2022 by reaching the finals with a game in hand. This will be Egypt's fourth finals, even though they have yet to win a game. Bizarrely, the Pharaohs did qualify for the first World Cup, in 1930, but missed their boat from Marseille to South America after a storm delayed them.