With high-stakes matches taking place across the globe, international qualifiers are the most intense stage in football’s global competition. While qualifying systems vary in structure and challenge, they all exist for the same reason: to determine the best national teams to represent their continent at the World Cup.
Each qualifying tournament consists of a series of stages, typically made up of groups or knockout ties. The winners of each round progress to the next, with a fixed number of berths awarded to each continent.
Generally, the team that scores a higher aggregate score over two legs wins the tie. However, if the teams are level at full time, extra time and penalty shootout may be used to determine the winner. Occasionally, a match might be played over one leg only, in which case the venue is decided by the agreement of the two entrants, or by the use of neutral territory with FIFA’s permission.
With three of the six automatic spots for the 2026 World Cup already claimed by hosts Mexico, the race to qualify in CONCACAF is heating up. With the top two in each group guaranteed a place, the runners-up will enter an inter-confederation playoff path alongside four Nations League finalists.
As of this writing, 14 group winners from the 2024 UNL have been ranked for the World Cup draw. Of those, 10 were in Pot 1 or 2 — so on ranking they would finish as the top two in their groups. If this comes to pass, North Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Moldova and San Marino will get a World Cup playoff spot.