1 to 48: USA/MEX/CAN Qualification Watch

1-3: United States Mexico Canada With all the qualification matches concluded for 2024, it’s time to bring back this thread for the upcoming WC to keep track of the teams that qualify. So far, I have Japan as the only country who can qualify in the next FIFA match date, if they win OR they do not lose and Saudi Arabia vs China ends in a draw. Iran can qualify if they get four points in March, with 3 of those coming against the UAE. Also, the OFC winner will be decided in March Looking forward to adding more teams to this list. Cheers!

You can add South Korea to that list. A win on the 2nd matchday vs Jordan with a favorable result on the 1st matchday will see them through. There is also a string of results that causes Uzbekistan to qualify as well but is not likely. Argentina also could do it. They are 12 clear currently of the last auto slot in CONMEBOL. As long as they gain ground on the 7th place team, they will also qualify.

I mean Japan is the easiest because it's win and in but Iran and SK can also qualify without depending on external results Iran qualifies with a win of any result against UAE because that would put them 9 points clear of Uzbekistan and UAE who still need to play against each other with 3 remaining games left, so there's no way that both of them can surpass and leave Iran in 3rd South Korea also mathematically qualifies with 2 wins this window Iraq and Uzbekistan need wins + waiting for other resultsIf Qatar wins out, they’d get to 19, and if Uzbekistan also gets to 19, they could force a three-way tie with Iran. Thats why they need Qatar to drop points.

Yeah, I never understood the arguments that the technicalities of FIFA politics should mean that Oceania should get an automatic WC slot. It's not as though every region of the world will be represented even in a 48-team WC. The Caribbean probably has at least 3-4 teams nowadays that are comparable or better than NZ, and it's still totally possible that the region could be entirely missing from the 2026 WC (imagine a universe where Costa Rica, Panama, and Honduras/El Salvador all make it, not implausible at all though maybe unlikely on current form).OFC isn't a region, it's a Confederation. Every Confederation should have a representative at the World Cup.

I'm sorry but Oceania still don't deserve an automatic place in the WC. When a team scores 29 and allows 1 on the way to qualifying something's broken.They should be a sub section of AFC. The Oceania top team (or top 2) should play in the AFC qualification, thus Oceania gets 0 spots.

After Matchday 7, I have the following scenarios for Asia IRAN is in with a win/draw against Uzbekistan OR UAE AND Qatar both drop points. UZBEKISTAN is in with a win against Iran AND both the UAE and Qatar drop points, OR a draw and both UAE and Qatar lose SOUTH KOREA is in with a win against Jordan AND an Iraq loss or draw.

5. New Zealand.

In South America, teams also need to be 13 points clear but in theory 12 may be enough based on who plays who left. It would not surprise me if Ecuador or Colombia could be in after this window but I'm not willing to do that math.I believe the math is actually quite simple now (since there is a big gap between #6 and #7, there is no need to worry about who plays who among the top 6). The most Bolivia can get is 28 points, Venezuela 29 points and anyone else can theoretically get more. So, Argentina, sitting on 25 points, is 2 wins away (most likely a win and a draw away b4 they kick-off in Montevideo). Of course, since VEN and BOL still play each other, the most BOL and VEN can both reach is 27 points (both BOL and VEN get 15 more points, with BOL beating VEN). So, Argentina can clinch at least a playoff spot with a win tonight.

I'm sorry but Oceania still don't deserve an automatic place in the WC. When a team scores 29 and allows 1 on the way to qualifying something's broken.Yeah, I never understood the arguments that the technicalities of FIFA politics should mean that Oceania should get an automatic WC slot. It's not as though every region of the world will be represented even in a 48-team WC. The Caribbean probably has at least 3-4 teams nowadays that are comparable or better than NZ, and it's still totally possible that the region could be entirely missing from the 2026 WC (imagine a universe where Costa Rica, Panama, and Honduras/El Salvador all make it, not implausible at all though maybe unlikely on current form).

South Korea concede a late equalizer to Oman, but even so, they can still qualify on Tuesday if Jordan drops points to Palestine today, and the Reds beat Jordan. That would put them at 18 points, out of reach of everyone except Iraq.