The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup.
Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones, each organized by their respective confederations: AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe). For each World Cup, FIFA decides the number of places in the finals allocated to each of the zones, based on the numbers and relative strengths of the confederations' teams.
As a courtesy, the host receives an automatic berth selection, as has happened with the immediate past tournament winner during much of the competition's history. All other finalists are determined on a standalone qualifying round achievement without regard to previous achievements.
History The berths for the inaugural 1930 tournament were filled by invitation only. The 1934 one was the first one to have an actual qualifying phase. The first ever World Cup qualifying match was played on 11 June 1933, when Sweden defeated Estonia 6–2 in Stockholm, and the first goal was scored 7 minutes into the game, with some sources attributing it to Swedish captain Knut Kroon while others credit it as an own goal by the Estonian goalkeeper Evald Tipner.
The number of teams entering qualification stages has increased steadily, and in response the final tournament has also been expanded (having 16 teams until 1978, then 24 between 1982 and 1994, then 32 between 1998 and 2022, and finally 48 from 2026 onwards). While the format of the qualifying tournaments has evolved, teams have always been grouped into zones which have remained relatively unchanged and roughly correspond to the continents. The teams from each zone compete for a fixed number of berths for the zone, with a limited number of places being awarded to winners of intercontinental play-offs.
Qualification berths by continent
The table below lists the numbers of berths allocated by FIFA for each continent in each tournament. It also shows the total number of teams that entered and played in every qualification cycle.
In the table, "H" denotes an automatic spot for the host, "C" denotes an automatic spot for the defending champion, and "inv" indicates the number of teams that were invited in 1930. Places in intercontinental play-offs are represented as fractions, as follows: 0.5 – a place in a direct play-off 0.25 – a place in a semi-final play-off (where the winner would then face yet another team for a spot in the finals) – a place in a play-off tournament where two out of six teams would qualify
+ Places allocated for continents 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 Europe 4 inv 12 11+H+C 7+C 11+H 9+H+C 8+2×0.5 9+H 8+C 8.5+H 8.5+C 13+H 12.5+C 13+H 12+C Africa— 1 0 1 0.5 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 Asia— 1 1 1 0.5 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 Oceaniacolspan=3 0 0 0 0 0.5 0.5 0.25 North and Central Americaand Caribbean 2 inv 1 1 2 1 1 0.5 1 1+H 1 1 2 1+H 2 1.25+H South America H+6 inv 2 1 4+H 1+C 3 3.5+H+C 3+C 3 2.5+C 2.5+H 3+C 4 2.5+C 3.5 Total berths 13 16 16 16 24 Teams in the finals 15 13 Entered qualificationrowspan=3 32 34 32 37 51 54 69 69 97 105 107 119 111 145 Played in qualification 27 21 19 33 46 49 51 68 90 95 103 110 103 128 Qualified via qualification 14 10 9 13 14 14 14 14 14 14 22 22 22 22 Qualified without playing 13 2 6 7 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 2030 2034 Europe 14+H 13.5+C 13+H 13 13 13+H 13 16 2H Africa 5 5 5 5+H 5 5 5 H Asia 3.5 2.5+2H 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5+H H Oceania 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 North and Central Americaand Caribbean 3 3 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3+3H South America 4+C 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5+H 4.5 4.5 3H Total berths 32 48 48 or 64 Teams in the finals Entered qualification 172 196 197 205 203 210 211 207 Played in qualification 168 193 194 199 202 208 204 206 Qualified via qualification 30 29 31 31 31 31 31 45 42 /58 47 /63 Qualified without playing 2 3 1 1 1 1 1 3 6 1
Notes
First appearance in qualification by team
Only teams that played at least one match are considered for first appearance. Teams that withdrew before the qualification, or that qualified to the World Cup by walkover due to other teams' withdrawals, are not considered.
Year Debuting teams Successor and renamed teams Europe South America North, Central America and Caribbean Asia Africa Oceania 1930No qualification was held all the teams were invitees. 1934 none none 27 27 1938 none none none none none 3 30 1950 none none none none 6 36 1954 none none none 6 42 1958 none 16 58 1962 none none 9 67 1966 none 673 1970 none none none 9 82 1974 none none 21 103 1978 none none none 14 117 1982 none none 8 125 1986 none none none none 9 134 1990 none none none none 3 137 1994 none 15 152 1998 none 31 183 2002 none 21 204 2006 none none none none 2 206 2010 none none 5 211 2014 none none none none none none 0 211 2018 none none none 4 215 2022 none none none none none none 0 215 2026 none none none none none none 0 215
Teams' entries before their actual debuts in qualification
Successor and renamed teams
Other notes
Overview of teams' participations
The below table shows how every team has participated in each World Cup qualification.
Key = successful qualifying campaign = did not take part in qualifying = participated in the final tournament
Qualified Qualified, then withdrew from the finals (Austria in 1938, and Scotland and Turkey in 1950) Did not qualify Withdrew during qualifying Was disqualified during qualifying Qualified automatically as host but took part in qualifiers as they doubled as another tournament (South Africa in 2010 and Qatar in 2022) Was not a FIFA member but took part in qualifiers as they doubled as another tournament (Tuvalu in 2010) Qualified automatically as host Qualified automatically as reigning champion Was invited to the finals (all finalists in 1930 except Uruguay) Received bye to the finals Received bye to the finals, then withdrew (India in 1950) Entered but withdrew before playing, or withdrew during qualifying and had all matches annulled Entered but was disqualified before playing, or was disqualified during qualifying and had all matches annulled Was suspended from entering, or had entry rejected Did not enter despite being a FIFA member Was not a FIFA member
Team 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 2030 2034 Currentconfederation
Team 1934 1938 1950 1954 1958 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 2030 2034 Currentconfederation
Non-participating incarnations
Continental allocations
Team records The below table compares the overall records of all teams that have participated in qualification. Teams are ordered by points using the three points for a win system, then by goal difference, and then by goals scored. Note that this order does not represent any official rankings, and qualification tournaments are not direct competitions among all teams.
The "Qualifying attempts" column counts qualifying campaigns where the team played at least one match that was not annulled. An attempt is treated as "successful" if the team gained the right to participate in the finals, even if it did not appear there eventually.
As per statistical convention in football, goals scored during extra time are counted towards matches' scorelines and outcomes, while goals scored during penalty shoot-outs are not. Annulled matches are not counted; for matches that were annulled and then replayed, only the replays are counted. For matches where the scorelines were awarded, the awarded scorelines, and not the original ones (if any), are counted.
Ecuador was deducted 3 points in the 2026 qualifying, which is reflected in the table.
Key Team has qualified for the main tournament through a qualifying process Team has qualified for the main tournament only by walkover (Cuba, and Indonesia as Dutch East Indies) Team has qualified for the main tournament by walkover but has not participated there because it withdrew (India) Team has not qualified for the main tournament Defunct team that qualified for the main tournament (East Germany) Defunct team that never qualified for the main tournament (Saar and South Yemen) Team is not a member of FIFA and is not eligible for the main tournament (Tuvalu)
The table is updated to the matches played in March 2026.