Overview

• Hosts United States, Canada and Mexico headline the 18 teams already qualified, joined by Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Jordan, Australia, New Zealand and six from South America including Argentina and Brazil.
• CAF has only Morocco and Tunisia through so far, with seven more direct spots to be decided by group winners and a mini playoff of top runners-up to award an intercontinental playoff place.
• Algeria, Cape Verde and Egypt can clinch with wins in this window, while Ivory Coast, Ghana and Senegal also have paths to qualify depending on results elsewhere in their groups.
• AFC opens two three-team final groups—Qatar/Omán/UAE and Saudi Arabia/Indonesia/Iraq—where only the winners qualify directly and the runners-up meet for an intercontinental playoff berth, with matches Wednesday, Saturday and Tuesday.
• UEFA’s campaign could yield its first qualifiers this weekend based on combinations for teams such as Croatia, France, Slovakia, Switzerland, England, Norway, Portugal and Spain, while CONCACAF’s final round sees leaders Suriname, Jamaica and Honduras chasing three direct slots plus two playoff places.