World Cup 2026: Portugal on the brink! Who are the qualifiers?

World Cup 2026: Portugal on the brink! Who are the qualifiers?

Today, October 15, 2025, the football world is looking forward to 2026, when the next World Cup will be held. With 28 nations qualified so far, fans' excitement continues as the final spots are awarded in these exciting weeks.

Five countries recently qualified for the tournament: England, Côte d'Ivoire, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Senegal. This paves the way for a colorful mix of national teams. Bleacher Report has published the latest information on the increasingly specific candidates. In a system that offers space for 48 teams, a total of 17 places are still available for the upcoming World Cup.

The co-hosts and the qualifications

To the delight of fans, Canada, Mexico and the United States have been set as co-hosts. A look at the various confederations shows how the field of participants is made up: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan have already qualified from Asia, while Africa can boast Algeria, Cape Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia. Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Uruguay can also look forward to the event in South America. Only in Oceania did New Zealand emerge successfully from qualification, while no team from North America has yet been secured.

However, the qualifiers also have their challenges. The situation around Portugal is prominent. On Tuesday, star player Cristiano Ronaldo's team only needed a win against Hungary and were already leading 2-1, but Dominik Szoboszlai equalized. This leaves Portugal on hold until November to possibly secure participation in the World Cup. USA Today highlights that qualification for the tournament, in which 206 countries are taking part, is coming to an end.

The exciting starting point

What about the other teams now? The African Nations are struggling through the final qualifying rounds: Tunisia qualified with a 1-0 win over Equatorial Guinea, while teams like Ghana, Senegal and Egypt are desperate to score in the coming games. The situation is particularly exciting for Ghana: They need a win against the Central African Republic and a mistake from Madagascar to live their dream of the World Cup.

Fans can look forward to an exciting time as qualifications come to their final stages. Who will ultimately secure the coveted places? The fact is that the anticipation for the 2026 World Cup has reached a new peak since today at the latest. Now all eyes are on the upcoming games!