FIFA announced that the draw for the playoff qualification of the 2026 World Cup will take place on November 20 in Zurich, Switzerland. The ceremony will start at 14:00 local time in Kyiv.

The draw will take place two days after the end of the November international window, following which the status of 42 participants in the World Cup will be known. The last six spots will be determined by the results of matches in March 2026: six national teams will compete in a continental playoff for two tickets, and another four places will be contested in the European playoff involving sixteen teams.

The intercontinental playoff will include two finals where winners from two semifinals between seeded and unseeded teams will face each other. The winners of these two finals will receive final licenses.

In the European playoff, twelve teams that finished second in their World Cup 2026 qualifying groups and four best group winners from UEFA Nations League will participate. Sixteen teams will be divided into four playoff paths with four teams each. Matches will take place in a semifinal and final format within each path. The winner of each path qualifies for the World Cup.

To ensure the draw procedure, the next FIFA ranking will be published on November 19.

As of today, twenty-eight national teams have already secured their places in the final tournament, while fourteen more teams—three from CONCACAF and eleven from UEFA—are set to determine their spots in November based on group tournament results.

2026 World Cup Final Tournament

The 2026 World Cup will be the first in history with forty-eight national teams participating in the final stage. Twelve groups of four teams each will be formed. The top two teams from each group and eight best third-placed teams advance to the round of sixteen.

Matches of the 23rd World Cup will take place in sixteen cities. These are Toronto and Vancouver in Canada, Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey in Mexico, and Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle in the USA.

The opening match of the World Cup will take place on June 11, 2026, in Mexico City, while the final match will be hosted by New York on July 19.

The draw will take place on December 5.

Final Tournament Calendar for the 2026 World Cup