July 15, 2018, Russia, Moscow: The World Cup is on a podium. Photo: Christian Charisius/dpa
The World Cup field is almost complete. 42 of the 48 teams for next year’s XXL tournament in the USA, Mexico and Canada have been chosen; the remaining six nations will not be determined until March. The twelve preliminary round groups will still be drawn in Washington on december 5th (6 p.m./CET).
Although the world association FIFA has so far left the exact procedure and composition of the pots open, much is already clear. The most critically important questions:
– Which teams are qualified?
- Hosts (3): USA, Canada and Mexico
- Asia (8): Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, south Korea, Jordan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
- Oceania (1): New Zealand
- North and Central America (3): Panama, curacao, Haiti
- South America (6): Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay
- Africa (9): Algeria, egypt, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia, Cape Verde, Senegal, south Africa
- Europe (12): England, France, Croatia, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Scotland
- Open (6): Four playoff participants from Europe, plus two from the intercontinental tournament
– What will the lottery pots look like?
Belgium is in the best pot with the World Cup favorites Argentina, Spain, France and record champion Brazil. Duels with these teams are not possible in the preliminary round. This also applies to England, the Netherlands, Portugal and Germany as well as the three hosts USA, Mexico and Canada.
November 18, 2025, Belgium, Liège: Belgium’s Alexis Saelemaekers (2nd from left) celebrate