These nations could debut at the 2026 World Cup

Ladies and gentlemen, here are 27 nations and how I rate their chances to debut at the 2026 World Cup. A lot of research has been done. A lot of footage has been checked out. Teams I didn't list won't stand a chance to qualify in my humble view. Tier I - hopeful to qualify Uzbekistan Bahrain Vietnam Jordan Burkina Faso Cape Verde Gabon Gambia Mali Suriname Venezuela Finland Tier II - stand an okeyish chance to qualify Oman Zambia Equatorial Guinea Benin Guatemala Curaçao Georgia Albania Tier III - stand a very small chance to qualify Syria Thailand Guinea Guinea Bissau Armenia Kazakhstan North Macedonia Luxembourg The poll will run three months. You have up to 6 votes as I regard 6 as the absolute maximum we could get on debutants in this cycle. Remember CONMEBOL WCQ will kick off first in September. AFC will follow in October. CAF will get the ball rolling in November. So that's why the poll will run 3 months. Guys, engage! If you want to post your own selection of teams feel free to do so. Furthermore I'm open to discuss the teams I named and give reasons for why I included them and why I put them in their respective tier. Good luck to all potential debutants out there! We are thrilled to see which nations will find their way to North America and benefit from the expansion to 48 teams.

I'm the same as everyone right now, I have a document of what I think 2026 will look like... ________________________________________________________________________ - Group A - USA Holland Cameroon ---------------- United Arab Emirates - Group B - France Ecuador Algeria ---------------- Austria - Group C - Germany Colombia Egypt ---------------- Jamaica - Group D - Argentina Korea Belgium ---------------- China - Group E - England Hungary Australia ---------------- New Zealand - Group F - Italy Nigeria Chile ---------------- Panama - Group G - Switzerland Mexico ---------------- Iran Tunisia - Group F - Ukraine Denmark ---------------- Mali Guatemala - Group G - Portugal Morocco ---------------- Canada Peru - Group H - Croatia Uruguay ---------------- Saudi Arabia South Africa - Group I - Spain Brazil Ivory Coast ---------------- Sweden - Group J - Japan Senegal Scotland ---------------- Costa Rica _____________ Round of 32 South Korea v Denmark Germany v Cameroon France v Chile Argentina v Egypt Italy v Algeria England v Morocco Ukraine v Holland Ivory Coast v Portugal Mexico v Colombia Croatia v Australia Spain v Scotland Japan v Switzerland Ecuador v Senegal Hungary v Belgium Brazil v Nigeria USA v Uruguay _____________ Round of 16 France v Ecuador Holland v South Korea Scotland v Mexico Japan v Portugal Germany v Croatia Brazil v Belgium Argentina v USA Algeria v Italy ____________ Quarter Finals France v South Korea Scotland v Japan Croatia v Brazil Argentina v Italy _____________ Semi Finals France v Japan Brazil v Italy _____________ Final Brazil v France _________________________________________________________________________ It's scary when you look at Rounds 32 and 16 like that, isn't it?! That's SOME schedule. It's fun to speculate. I did this more to come to terms with the SCALE, the4 SIZE of the tournament, the EVENT nonpareil. It will dominate the entire summer, I don't see movies being released that summer, unlike in 1994 when, The Lion King, Forrest Gump, True Lies, Speed, The Mask competed with World Cup USA fever. African Cup and Asian Cup will run together this January-February in the Quarter Finals anyway, I think it is. And Euros and Copa America will run together in tandem in the summer. The latter will be pretty crazy, as we'll be watching Euros during the afternoon and the Copa in the evening/early hours! It will feel like watching a split World Cup! Hope we don't get muddled up!I am looking at your bracket and thinking Mexico playing Colombia could be epic in the USA. Like one of the best atmospheres ever in any World Cup match with all the Mexicans and Colombians that would attend. And depending where the game was played Mexican fans would probably not even be the majority which is VERY rare in the USA. But I forgot that hypothetical matchup in this scenario would be in Mexico and I would literally barf seeing Mexico win but I gues...

Kamiboy., i am sorry but again this is very subjective and surely not based on facts! how please in even any parallel world can Suriname be given a hopeful chance to qualify?! Which "fact" made you think they have such good chances. how can you rate the chances of african teams where the draw stand but also UEFA teams where no draw has been held so far?! Where are Albania, Montenegro? They are not worse then Luxembourg or North Macedonia but not in your list. For what reason? Albania was at least at Euro 2016 and Montenegro were playing a Euro playoff once vs. Czechia. Why you don't have any oceanian team on your list? Despite NZ being the clear favorite, teams like Solomon Isl, New Caledonia or PNG have at least an decent outsider chance against them and as OFC has one fix slot at the WC this is not an impossible path to walk.

You should also do a thread of, "Who WON'T be at the 2026 World Cup" just to be devilish! .Sometime end of this month or early September I will deliver my 48 team prediction. Once I published that I'll open a thread with notable teams I see missing out on World Cup action in 2026. I think there will be some noteworthy casualties in every confederation (except for the OFC). I do. I might open also a thread for teams who I think will return after a long hiatus (20 years or more). I see with the expansion to 48 teams multiple teams making it back after having been absent from the showpiece event for quite a long time.

Mali has a very decent chance. I would say more likely than Finland and Venezuela.Just for your notice I already picked Venezuela to qualify. https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/eliminatorias-rumbo-al-mundial-2026-table-predictions.2126924/

From the list, I only found four teams which have a reasonable expectation to debut: Uzbekistan Oman Venezula Finland The others would seem very out of place at the World Cup final competition, the expansion to 48 teams notwithstanding.Uzbekistan are on a clear upward trajectory under Kantenec and they are all things considered out of all these 27 teams the team with the best odds of debuting. Oman recently have disappointed a lot. Several underhelming results against teams who are very far away from entering my lists like Kyrygzstan and Tajikistan. Furthermore they were handily beaten by Uzbekistan at the CAFA Nations Cup (3-0 loss). Oman have become all of a sudden a question mark and I see them struggling in the latter stages of WCQ. Hence they miss out on tier I of my list. Venezuela are on a mild upward trajectory. There is nothing ecstatic about them but they look solid to me and given that the bottom half of CONMEBOL is not at their best this could be their chance to finally make it. Finland are in a transition period. As of now I rate them a bit weaker than in 2019-2021. They are temporarily at the top of their EURO qualifiers group but they've got a number of tough matches coming up. The main reason I rate their chances the highest among all my UEFA entries is their somewhat decent FIFA Ranking. If they qualify for EURO 2024 and do ok there it would pave them the way to pot 2 for the WCQ draw. And that would boost their chances.

The problem with the OFC and improving the overall level of the teams to increase their competitiveness - and it is a problem shared with Asia - is that the teams play too few meaningful games during the 4-year cycle (I exclude regional tournaments from being classified as meaningful games).

Guatemala is going to have a better home field though. Central American teams usually have crazier supporters in the stands. I know people may think I put too much stock into that but in CONCACAF and Latin America it does make a difference. Caribbean nations just do not have that intimidating factor generally. Maybe the office in Jamaica but even they have had mediocre crowds the last few cycles. It is going to be more difficult to get points in Guatemala than in Suriname.While playing at Suriname is maybe not as challenging as in Central America I would rank it tougher than the office in Jamaica. The office was a very comfortable away venue for any visiting team last time out. Don't underestimate the Surinamnese people. They will show up in numbers and support their team. And this is not a copy and paste of Jamaica where there are supposedly deep rifts between the English born guys and the rest. Manager Aron Winter is very aware of the potential problem and he is keen to prevent a 'Jamaica' situation. Suriname are a quality side. They are more than just a bunch of Dutch rejects and I expect them to showcase their strength in WCQ.

I dont give Benin an "okish" chance to qualify. It would be no more than a very small chance. If Nigeria does fail in that group it most certainly be South Africa that benefits. I can't see anyone outside of those 2 qualifying.It's borderline. I can see your point. Benin have a very young squad and I expect them to evolve under Gernot Rohr who has been in charge since only a couple months. They could prove to be a banana peel for Nigeria as Rohr knows Nigeria like the back of his hand.

From the list, I only found four teams which have a reasonable expectation to debut: Uzbekistan Oman Venezula Finland The others would seem very out of place at the World Cup final competition, the expansion to 48 teams notwithstanding.