Hosts (3) - Canada, US, Mexico
Asia (8) - Japan, Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Africa (9) - Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Senegal, Cote D'Ivoire
CONCACAF (3) -
CONMEBOL (6) - Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia
Oceania (1) - New Zealand
UEFA (16) - England, France, Croatia
A 6 team inter-confederation playoff in March 2026 will determine the last 2 spots.
Asia 9th -
Africa 10th -
CONCACAF 4th and 5th -
CONMEBOL 7th - Bolivia
Oceania 2nd - New Caledonia
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I was listening to the latest episode of the Libero podcast last night, with Jonathan Wilson, Miguel Delaney, and James Horncastle. They were talking about how awesome the last night of World Cup qualifying used to be, with all the UEFA games happening at the same time. Specifically, they went depth on the last match day to qualify for the '94 World Cup. England getting scored on by San Marino in less than a minute. France's collapse, Ireland vs N. Ireland.
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Europe is awarded 16 qualification places by FIFA for the 48 team World Cup, but with the playoffs looming once again, Gattuso said that changes are needed to ensure fairness in the process.
"In my day, the best [group] runners-up went straight to the World Cup, now the rules have changed," Gattuso said. "To change the rules, you need to tell those who organize these tournaments.
Italy does have a point. They could go through the entire qualification round with 1 loss plus equal or more points than every single team in UEFA qualification (including those that qualified). Also, they're ranked 9th in FIFA but despite that, there's still the possibility that they need to first beat Sweden then have to beat Scotland in Glasgow (or Czechia in Prague) to get in. They should at least have an easier path than that. And I know last time in the playoff they lost to North Macedonia, but still.
Last edited by Sidney Crosby's Hat; 11-16-2025 at 08:26 AM.
The UEFA format and playoffs are stupid in generals
In South America 6/10 teams get in, Brazil is going to lose 5 games and still get direct qualifoctaoon.
8 groups of 6 teams should be the UEFA qualification, and top 2 teams in each grouo get in.
The problem with only 1 team getting in from each group is it means they the draw is weighted way too important. Look how easy group C and Group H are comparatively
Having different group sizes and then forcing so many playoff spots is silly.
Last edited by SuperMatt18; 11-16-2025 at 09:29 AM.
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The UEFA format and playoffs are stupid in generals
In South America 6/10 teams get in, Brazil is going to lose 5 games and still get direct qualifoctaoon.
8 groups of 6 teams should be the UEFA qualification, and top 2 teams in each grouo get in.
The problem with only 1 team getting in from each group is it means they the draw is weighted way too important. Look how easy group C and Group H are comparatively
Having different group sizes and then forcing so many playoff spots is silly.
Well they should try for qualification as opposed to it's off-brand low-rent cousin of 'qualifoctaoon.'
Where did they find that? Some ratty old vending stand in a market in Naples or something?
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If you thought this season would have a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.
Powerhouses Germany and The Netherlands are the 30th and 31st teams to qualify.
Tomorrow is the big day as 8 teams will qualify directly, 5 UEFA and 3 CONCACAF
In Europe, 3 are shoeins, Spain, Suisse and Belguim.
The other 2 are direct playoffs, Scotland needs to beat Denmark at home and Bosnia needs to win in Austria.
More complicated in CONCACAF. There is one direct playoffs, Jamaica needs to beat Curacao at home.
In group A Suriname and Panama are even on 9 points, Suriname has a +3 superior goal difference. Suriname go to Guatemala while Panama host El Salvador.
In Group C, Honduras and Haiti are even on 8 points. Honduras has a +2 superior goal difference. Honduras go to Costa Rica while Haiti hosts Nicaragua.
Hosts (3) - Canada, US, Mexico
Asia (8) - Japan, Iran, South Korea, Uzbekistan, Jordan, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
Africa (9) - Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Senegal, Cote D'Ivoire
CONCACAF (3) -
CONMEBOL (6) - Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Colombia
Oceania (1) - New Zealand
UEFA (16) - England, France, Croatia, Portugal, Norway
A 6 team inter-confederation playoff in March 2026 will determine the last 2 spots.
Asia 9th -
Africa 10th - DR Congo
CONCACAF 4th and 5th -
CONMEBOL 7th - Bolivia
Oceania 2nd - New Caledonia
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Somehow my YouTube algorithm brought up highlights for Ireland-Portugal and Ireland-Hungary. What an insane run, with all 5 goals for Ireland over the two games scored by Troy Parrott, to get into the playoff. Especially to get the win in the final seconds of stopage time in Budapest.
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