Overview
- Curaçao and Haiti clinched places, alongside Panama, Cape Verde, Jordan and Uzbekistan, highlighting a surge of debutants and small teams.
- The remaining berths will be settled in March intercontinental playoffs featuring DR Congo, New Caledonia, Bolivia, Jamaica, Suriname and Iraq, with DR Congo and Iraq seeded for single knockout ties.
- Scotland secured its first World Cup since 1998 with a stoppage-time strike against Denmark, while Austria qualified via a late equalizer versus Bosnia-Herzegovina.
- Iraq advanced to the playoff thanks to Amir Al-Ammari’s 107th-minute penalty against the UAE, leaving automatic qualification out of reach for now.
- FIFA punished Malaysia over allegedly forged documents for several foreign-born players, underscoring broader diaspora recruitment across teams such as Curaçao and Cape Verde.