FIFA World Cup qualification

The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup.

Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones, each organized by their respective confederations: AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oceania), and UEFA (Europe). For each World Cup, FIFA decides the number of places in the finals allocated to each of the zones, based on the numbers and relative strengths of the confederations' teams.

As a courtesy, the host receives an automatic berth selection, as has happened with the immediate past tournament winner during much of the competition's history. All other finalists are determined on a standalone qualifying round achievement without regard to previous achievements.

History

The berths for the inaugural 1930 tournament were filled by invitation only. The 1934 one was the first one to have an actual qualifying phase. The first ever World Cup qualifying match was played on 11 June 1933, when Sweden defeated Estonia 6–2 in Stockholm, and the first goal was scored 7 minutes into the game, with some sources attributing it to Swedish captain Knut Kroon while others credit it as an own goal by the Estonian goalkeeper Evald Tipner.

The number of teams entering qualification stages has increased steadily, and in response the final tournament has also been expanded (having 16 teams until 1978, then 24 between 1982 and 1994, then 32 between 1998 and 2022, and finally 48 from 2026 onwards). While the format of the qualifying tournaments has evolved, teams have always been grouped into zones which have remained relatively unchanged and roughly correspond to the continents. The teams from each zone compete for a fixed number of berths for the zone, with a limited number of places being awarded to winners of intercontinental play-offs.

Qualification berths by continent

The table below lists the numbers of berths allocated by FIFA for each continent in each tournament. It also shows the total number of teams that entered and played in every qualification cycle.

In the table, "H" denotes an automatic spot for the host, "C" denotes an automatic spot for the defending champion, and "inv" indicates the number of teams that were invited in 1930. Places in intercontinental play-offs are represented as fractions, as follows:

• 0.5 – a place in a direct play-off
• 0.25 – a place in a semi-final play-off (where the winner would then face yet another team for a spot in the finals)
• Template:Sfrac – a place in a play-off tournament where two out of six teams would qualify

Places allocated for continents

	Template:Flagicon 1930 Template:Efn-la	Template:Flagicon 1934	Template:Flagicon 1938	Template:Flagicon 1950	Template:Flagicon 1954	Template:Flagicon 1958	Template:Flagicon 1962	Template:Flagicon 1966	Template:Flagicon 1970	Template:Flagicon 1974	Template:Flagicon 1978	Template:Flagicon 1982	Template:Flagicon 1986	Template:Flagicon 1990	Template:Flagicon 1994
Europe	4 inv	12	11 +H+C	7 +C	11 +H	9Template:Efn-la +H+C	8+ 2×0.5	9 +H	8 +C	8.5 +H	8.5 +C	13 +H	12.5 +C	13 +H	12 +C
Africa	—	1		0Template:Efn-la		1Template:Efn-la	0.5	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	3
Asia	—		1	1	1		0.5		1	1	1	2	2	2	2
Oceania	—Template:Efn-la			0Template:Efn-la	0Template:Efn-la	0Template:Efn-la	0Template:Efn-la						0.5	0.5	0.25
North and Central America and Caribbean	2 inv	1	1	2	1	1	0.5	1	1 +H	1	1	2	1 +H	2	1.25 +H
South America	H+ 6 inv	2	1	4 +H	1 +C	3	3.5 +H+C	3 +C	3	2.5 +C	2.5 +H	3 +C	4	2.5 +C	3.5
Total berths	13	16	16		16							24
Teams in the finals			15Template:Efn-la	13Template:Efn-la
Entered qualificationTemplate:Efn-la	—	32	34	32	37	51	54	69	69	97	105	107	119	111	145
Played in qualificationTemplate:Efn-la		27	21	19	33	46	49	51	68	90	95	103	110	103	128
Qualified via qualification		14	10	9	13	14	14	14	14	14	14	22	22	22	22
Qualified without playing	13	2	6	7	3	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2	2

	Template:Flagicon 1998	Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2002	Template:Flagicon 2006	Template:Flagicon 2010	Template:Flagicon 2014	Template:Flagicon 2018	Template:Flagicon 2022	Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2026	Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon Template:Flagicon 2030	Template:Flagicon 2034
Europe	14 +H	13.5 +C	13 +H	13	13	13 +H	13	16	2H
Africa	5	5	5	5 +H	5	5	5	Template:Sfrac	H
Asia	3.5	2.5 +2H	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5 +H	Template:Sfrac		H
Oceania	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	Template:Sfrac
North and Central America and Caribbean	3	3	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3Template:Sfrac +3H
South America	4 +C	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5 +H	4.5	4.5	Template:Sfrac	3H
Total berths	32							48	48 or 64
Teams in the finals
Entered qualificationTemplate:Efn-la	172	196	197	205Template:Efn-la	203	210	211Template:Efn-la	207
Played in qualificationTemplate:Efn-la	168	193	194	199Template:Efn-la	202	208	204Template:Efn-la	206
Qualified via qualification	30	29	31	31	31	31	31	45	42 / 58	47 / 63
Qualified without playing	2	3	1	1	1	1	1	3	6	1

Notes

First appearance in qualification by team

Only teams that played at least one match are considered for first appearance. Teams that withdrew before the qualification, or that qualified to the World Cup by walkover due to other teams' withdrawals, are not considered.

Year	Debuting teams								Successor and renamed teams
	Europe	South America	North, Central America and Caribbean	Asia	Africa	Oceania	T	CT
1934	Austria BelgiumTemplate:Efn Bulgaria CzechoslovakiaTemplate:Efn-ua Estonia FranceTemplate:Efn GermanyTemplate:Efn-ua Greece Hungary Template:Country data Irish Free StateTemplate:Efn-ua ItalyTemplate:Refn Lithuania Luxembourg Netherlands Poland Portugal RomaniaTemplate:Efn Spain Sweden Switzerland YugoslaviaTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn-ua	none	Cuba Haiti MexicoTemplate:Efn United StatesTemplate:Efn	Template:Country data PALTemplate:Efn-ua	EgyptTemplate:Efn-ua	none	27	27
1938	Finland Latvia Norway	none	none	none	none	none	3	30
1950	England IrelandTemplate:Efn-ua Scotland TurkeyTemplate:Efn Wales	none	none	Syria	none	none	6	36	IrelandTemplate:Efn-ua IsraelTemplate:Efn-ua
1954	Saar	BrazilTemplate:Efn ChileTemplate:Efn ParaguayTemplate:Efn	none	JapanTemplate:Efn South Korea	none	none	6	42	Northern IrelandTemplate:Efn-ua Republic of IrelandTemplate:Efn-ua West GermanyTemplate:Efn-ua
1958	Denmark East Germany Iceland Soviet UnionTemplate:Efn-ua	ArgentinaTemplate:Efn BoliviaTemplate:Efn ColombiaTemplate:Efn PeruTemplate:Efn UruguayTemplate:Efn	Canada Costa RicaTemplate:Efn Guatemala Template:Country data Territory of CuraçaoTemplate:Efn-ua	China IndonesiaTemplate:Efn	Sudan	none	16	58
1962	CyprusTemplate:Efn	EcuadorTemplate:Efn	Dutch GuianaTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn-ua Honduras	none	Ethiopia Ghana Morocco Nigeria Tunisia	none	9	67	Netherlands AntillesTemplate:Efn-ua
1966	Albania	VenezuelaTemplate:Efn	Jamaica Trinidad and Tobago	North Korea	none	Australia	6	73
1970	none	none	Bermuda El SalvadorTemplate:Efn	none	AlgeriaTemplate:Efn CameroonTemplate:Efn LibyaTemplate:Efn RhodesiaTemplate:Efn-ua SenegalTemplate:Efn Zambia	New Zealand	9	82
1974	Malta	none	Antigua and Barbuda Puerto Rico	Hong Kong Iran Iraq Kuwait Malaysia South VietnamTemplate:Efn-ua Thailand	Congo DahomeyTemplate:Efn-ua GuineaTemplate:Efn Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Mauritius Sierra Leone Tanzania Togo ZaireTemplate:Efn-ua	none	21	103
1978	none	none	Barbados Dominican Republic Guyana Panama	Bahrain Qatar Republic of ChinaTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn-ua Saudi Arabia Singapore	Malawi Mauritania Niger Uganda Upper VoltaTemplate:Efn-ua	none	14	117	SurinameTemplate:Efn-ua
1982	none	none	Grenada	Macau	Gambia LiberiaTemplate:Efn MadagascarTemplate:Efn Mozambique Somalia	Fiji	8	125	Chinese TaipeiTemplate:Efn-ua ZimbabweTemplate:Efn-ua
1986	none	none	none	Bangladesh Brunei Jordan IndiaTemplate:Efn Nepal North YemenTemplate:Efn-ua South Yemen United Arab EmiratesTemplate:Efn	Angola	none	9	134	BeninTemplate:Efn-ua
1990	none	none	none	OmanTemplate:Efn Pakistan	GabonTemplate:Efn	none	3	137	Burkina FasoTemplate:Efn-ua
1994	Faroe Islands San Marino	none	Nicaragua Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	LebanonTemplate:Efn Sri LankaTemplate:Efn	Botswana Burundi Namibia South Africa SwazilandTemplate:Efn-ua	Solomon Islands Tahiti Vanuatu	15	152	GermanyTemplate:Efn-ua Representation of Czechs and SlovaksTemplate:Efn-ua RussiaTemplate:Efn-ua VietnamTemplate:Efn-ua YemenTemplate:Efn-ua
1998	Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Bosnia and Herzegovina Croatia Georgia LiechtensteinTemplate:Efn REDIRECT Template:Country data North MacedoniaTemplate:Efn-ua Moldova Slovakia Slovenia Ukraine	none	Aruba Belize Cayman Islands Dominica Saint Kitts and Nevis	Cambodia Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan MaldivesTemplate:Efn PhilippinesTemplate:Efn Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan	Guinea-Bissau RwandaTemplate:Efn	Cook Islands Papua New Guinea Tonga Western SamoaTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn-ua	31	183	Czech RepublicTemplate:Efn-ua DR CongoTemplate:Efn-ua Template:Country data FRYTemplate:Efn-ua
2002	Andorra	none	Anguilla BahamasTemplate:Efn British Virgin Islands Montserrat Turks and Caicos Islands U.S. Virgin Islands	Guam Laos Mongolia Palestine	Cape Verde Central African RepublicTemplate:Efn Chad Djibouti Equatorial Guinea Eritrea MaliTemplate:Efn São Tomé and PríncipeTemplate:Efn Seychelles	American Samoa	21	204	SamoaTemplate:Efn-ua
2006	none	none	none	Afghanistan	none	New Caledonia	2	206	Serbia and MontenegroTemplate:Efn-ua
2010	Montenegro	none	none	Timor-Leste MyanmarTemplate:Efn	Comoros	TuvaluTemplate:Refn	5	211	SerbiaTemplate:Efn-ua
2014	none	none	none	none	none	none	0	211	Template:Country data CUWTemplate:Efn-ua
2018	Gibraltar Template:Country data KOS	none	none	BhutanTemplate:Efn	Template:Country data SSD	none	4	215
2022	none	none	none	none	none	none	0	215	EswatiniTemplate:Efn-ua REDIRECT Template:Country data North MacedoniaTemplate:Efn-ua
2026	none	none	none	none	none	none	0	215

Teams' entries before their actual debuts in qualification

Successor and renamed teams

Other notes

Overview of teams' participations

The below table shows how every team has participated in each World Cup qualification.

Key

• golden background = successful qualifying campaign
• grey background = did not take part in qualifying
• bold red typeface = participated in the final tournament

Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Qualified
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Qualified, then withdrew from the finals (Austria in 1938, and Scotland and Turkey in 1950)
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Did not qualify
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Withdrew during qualifying
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Was disqualified during qualifying
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Qualified automatically as host but took part in qualifiers as they doubled as another tournament (South Africa in 2010 and Qatar in 2022)
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Was not a FIFA member but took part in qualifiers as they doubled as another tournament (Tuvalu in 2010)
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Qualified automatically as host
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Qualified automatically as reigning champion
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Was invited to the finals (all finalists in 1930 except Uruguay)
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Received bye to the finals
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Received bye to the finals, then withdrew (India in 1950)
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Entered but withdrew before playing, or withdrew during qualifying and had all matches annulled
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Entered but was disqualified before playing, or was disqualified during qualifying and had all matches annulled
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Was suspended from entering, or had entry rejected
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Did not enter despite being a FIFA member
Template:FIFA World Cup qualification team/year	Was not a FIFA member

Team	19 30	19 34	19 38	19 50	19 54	19 58	19 62	19 66	19 70	19 74	19 78	19 82	19 86	19 90	19 94	19 98	20 02	20 06	20 10	20 14	20 18	20 22	20 26	20 30	20 34	Current confederationTemplate:Efn-ur
Team	19 30	19 34	19 38	19 50	19 54	19 58	19 62	19 66	19 70	19 74	19 78	19 82	19 86	19 90	19 94	19 98	20 02	20 06	20 10	20 14	20 18	20 22	20 26	20 30	20 34	Current confederation

Non-participating incarnations

Continental allocations

Overall team records

The below table compares the overall records of all teams that have participated in qualification. Teams are ordered by points using the three points for a win system, then by goal difference, and then by goals scored. Note that this order does not represent any official rankings, and qualification tournaments are not direct competitions among all teams.

The "Qualifying attempts" column counts qualifying campaigns where the team played at least one match that was not annulled. An attempt is treated as "successful" if the team gained the right to participate in the finals, even if it did not appear there eventually.

As per statistical convention in football, goals scored during extra time are counted towards matches' scorelines and outcomes, while goals scored during penalty shoot-outs are not. Annulled matches are not counted; for matches that were annulled and then replayed, only the replays are counted. For matches where the scorelines were awarded, the awarded scorelines, and not the original ones (if any), are counted.

Ecuador was deducted 3 points in the 2026 qualifying, which is reflected in the table.

Key
Team has qualified for the main tournament through a qualifying process
Team has qualified for the main tournament only by walkover (Cuba, and Indonesia as Dutch East Indies)
Team has qualified for the main tournament by walkover but has not participated there because it withdrew (India)
Team has qualified for the main tournament only automatically as host (Qatar)
Team has not qualified for the main tournament
Defunct team that qualified for the main tournament (East Germany)
Defunct team that never qualified for the main tournament (Saar and South Yemen)
Team is not a member of FIFA and is not eligible for the main tournament (Tuvalu)

Teams in bold are currently participating or are yet to start in the 2026 qualification. The table is updated to the matches played in November 2024.

Rank (unoff.)	Team	Qualifying attempts		Appearances in the finals	Overall qualification record							Points		Confederation
		Total	Successful		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Total	Avg
1	Mexico	17	14	18	189	121	41	27	453	134	+319	404	2.138	CONCACAF
2	South Korea	16	10	11	163	103	42	18	331	96	+235	351	2.153	AFC
3	Australia	16	6	6	173	102	44	27	435	130	+305	350	2.023	AFC
4	Iran	12	6	6	158	101	38	19	344	98	+246	341	2.158	AFC
5	Costa Rica	18	6	6	189	95	47	47	316	184	+132	332	1.757	CONCACAF
6	Argentina	15	13	18	165	94	43	28	283	142	+141	325	1.970	CONMEBOL
7	Japan	16	6	7	150	94	28	28	351	93	+258	310	2.067	AFC
8	Brazil	14	13	22	139	87	36	16	297	86	+211	297	2.137	CONMEBOL
9	Uruguay	18	11	14	184	82	51	51	257	195	+62	297	1.614	CONMEBOL
10	Saudi Arabia	13	6	6	148	86	36	26	281	112	+169	294	1.986	AFC
11	Netherlands	19	11	11	135	89	26	20	329	101	+228	293	2.170	UEFA
12	United States	19	9	12	168	84	40	44	287	191	+96	292	1.738	CONCACAF
13	Spain	19	15	16	125	87	26	12	291	81	+210	287	2.296	UEFA
14	Portugal	21	8	8	149	83	35	31	284	146	+138	284	1.906	UEFA
15	England	17	14	16	122	84	27	11	314	70	+244	279	2.287	UEFA
16	Sweden	20	11	12	141	86	21	34	280	129	+151	279	1.979	UEFA
17	Serbia Serbia and Montenegro FR Yugoslavia Yugoslavia	20	12	13	136	81	33	22	287	123	+164	276	2.029	UEFA
18	Belgium	20	13	14	141	83	27	31	302	147	+155	276	1.957	UEFA
19	Czech Republic Representation of Czechs and Slovaks Czechoslovakia	20	9	9	147	79	31	37	280	126	+154	268	1.823	UEFA
20	Germany West Germany Germany	15	15	20	104	83	18	3	328	74	+254	267	2.567	UEFA
21	Russia Soviet Union	16	10	11	125	80	24	21	246	81	+165	264	2.112	UEFA
22	Italy	17	14	18	118	78	30	10	234	72	+162	264	2.237	UEFA
23	Paraguay	19	6	8	184	73	42	69	221	222	−1	261	1.418	CONMEBOL
24	Colombia	18	6	6	182	67	58	57	215	188	+27	259	1.423	CONMEBOL
25	Honduras	16	3	3	166	71	44	51	271	201	+70	257	1.548	CONCACAF
26	China	13	1	1	138	77	22	39	284	121	+163	253	1.833	AFC
27	El Salvador	15	2	2	162	71	34	57	263	188	+75	247	1.525	CONCACAF
28	Romania	18	5	7	138	72	29	37	238	142	+96	245	1.775	UEFA
29	Switzerland	20	11	12	140	68	37	35	220	150	+70	241	1.721	UEFA
30	Chile	17	6	9	176	68	36	72	245	241	+4	240	1.364	CONMEBOL
31	Scotland	19	9	8	136	69	30	37	210	146	+64	237	1.743	UEFA
32	France	18	12	16	119	70	26	23	234	91	+143	236	1.983	UEFA
33	Denmark	16	6	6	132	67	30	35	242	144	+98	231	1.750	UEFA
34	Tunisia	16	6	6	116	65	31	20	198	86	+112	226	1.948	CAF
35	Poland	19	9	9	128	67	23	38	260	154	+106	224	1.750	UEFA
36	Canada	15	2	3	137	62	38	37	215	144	+71	224	1.635	CONCACAF
37	Iraq	13	1	1	131	63	34	34	243	124	+119	223	1.702	AFC
38	Morocco	16	6	6	122	61	39	22	185	84	+101	222	1.820	CAF
39	Nigeria	16	6	6	116	62	35	19	189	89	+100	221	1.905	CAF
40	Austria	19	8	7	134	64	29	41	232	155	+77	221	1.649	UEFA
41	Republic of Ireland Ireland Template:Country data Irish Free State	21	3	3	149	58	46	45	210	177	+33	220	1.477	UEFA
42	Ecuador	17	4	4	173	60	42	71	207	225	−18	219	1.266	CONMEBOL
43	Qatar	13	0	1	132	64	25	43	227	142	+85	217	1.644	AFC
44	Hungary	19	8	9	132	63	28	41	235	176	+59	217	1.644	UEFA
45	Bulgaria	20	7	7	137	62	29	46	215	191	+24	215	1.569	UEFA
46	Uzbekistan	8	0	0	114	62	22	30	216	113	+103	208	1.825	AFC
47	Trinidad and Tobago	16	1	1	143	58	30	55	216	187	+29	204	1.427	CONCACAF
48	Egypt	16	3	3	105	60	22	23	187	96	+91	202	1.924	CAF
49	United Arab Emirates	11	1	1	128	59	25	44	222	133	+89	202	1.578	AFC
50	New Zealand	15	2	2	105	61	18	26	258	102	+156	201	1.914	OFC
51	Cameroon	15	8	8	99	59	24	16	167	74	+93	201	2.030	CAF
52	Greece	20	3	3	136	56	33	47	167	179	−12	201	1.478	UEFA
53	Peru	18	4	5	180	51	45	84	186	248	−62	198	1.100	CONMEBOL
54	Guatemala	17	0	0	128	54	32	42	217	150	+67	194	1.516	CONCACAF
55	Turkey	18	3	2	139	53	27	59	204	206	−2	186	1.338	UEFA
56	Kuwait	14	1	1	113	54	21	38	190	116	+74	183	1.619	AFC
57	Norway	19	3	3	136	49	33	54	185	186	−1	180	1.324	UEFA
58	Northern Ireland Template:Country data EIR	19	3	3	142	45	39	58	155	168	−13	174	1.225	UEFA
59	Bolivia	18	1	3	180	47	33	100	213	353	−140	174	0.967	CONMEBOL
60	Ivory Coast	13	3	3	88	48	27	13	166	70	+96	171	1.943	CAF
61	Israel Template:Country data PAL	21	1	1	132	45	35	52	189	199	−10	170	1.288	UEFA
62	Algeria	15	4	4	101	48	25	28	161	101	+60	169	1.673	CAF
63	Ghana	15	4	4	95	47	25	23	147	75	+72	166	1.747	CAF
64	Zambia	15	0	0	106	48	21	37	159	104	+55	165	1.557	CAF
65	Syria	16	0	0	108	46	24	38	214	132	+82	162	1.500	AFC
66	Wales	19	2	2	130	43	29	58	168	180	−12	158	1.215	UEFA
67	Oman	10	0	0	100	45	22	33	159	97	+62	157	1.570	AFC
68	Jamaica	13	1	1	120	41	32	47	131	156	−25	155	1.292	CONCACAF
69	Bahrain	12	0	0	108	39	33	36	136	111	+25	150	1.389	AFC
70	Croatia	7	6	6	72	43	20	9	129	51	+78	149	2.069	UEFA
71	Haiti	16	1	1	97	44	17	36	170	126	+44	149	1.536	CONCACAF
72	North Korea	11	2	2	95	42	21	32	132	93	+39	147	1.547	AFC
73	Panama	13	1	1	116	40	26	50	147	179	−32	146	1.259	CONCACAF
74	DR Congo Zaire	12	1	1	88	41	21	26	143	94	+49	144	1.636	CAF
75	Ukraine	7	1	1	80	38	28	14	122	62	+60	142	1.775	UEFA
76	Jordan	11	0	0	90	38	20	32	143	104	+39	134	1.489	AFC
77	Finland	20	0	0	137	35	25	77	144	297	−153	130	0.949	UEFA
78	Senegal	14	3	3	75	34	25	16	112	62	+50	127	1.693	CAF
79	Guinea	14	0	0	85	37	14	34	123	112	+11	125	1.471	CAF
80	Slovakia	7	1	1	74	35	19	20	127	74	+53	124	1.676	UEFA
81	Venezuela	15	0	0	170	30	32	108	145	363	−218	122	0.718	CONMEBOL
82	South Africa	9	2	3	60	34	10	16	78	52	+26	112	1.867	CAF
83	Iceland	14	1	1	116	30	22	64	128	233	−105	112	0.966	UEFA
84	Angola	11	1	1	73	28	27	18	90	67	+23	111	1.521	CAF
85	Thailand	14	0	0	103	28	23	52	134	174	−40	107	1.039	AFC
86	Burkina Faso Upper Volta	10	0	0	70	30	15	25	106	87	+19	105	1.500	CAF
87	Slovenia	7	2	2	72	29	17	26	94	80	+14	104	1.444	UEFA
88	Bosnia and Herzegovina	7	1	1	66	29	14	23	121	81	+40	101	1.530	UEFA
89	Kenya	14	0	0	78	25	21	32	88	103	−15	96	1.231	CAF
90	Indonesia Dutch East Indies	14	0	1	93	25	21	47	118	187	−69	96	1.032	AFC
91	Lebanon	9	0	0	78	24	21	33	108	106	+2	93	1.192	AFC
92	Hong Kong	14	0	0	89	25	18	46	103	158	−55	93	1.045	AFC
93	Togo	12	1	1	75	24	20	31	78	96	−18	92	1.227	CAF
94	Malaysia	14	0	0	75	26	14	35	104	133	−29	92	1.227	AFC
95	Libya	12	0	0	66	25	15	26	71	72	−1	90	1.364	CAF
96	Gabon	10	0	0	67	26	12	29	71	78	−7	90	1.343	CAF
97	Cuba	14	0	1	74	23	20	31	96	108	−12	89	1.203	CONCACAF
98	Suriname Dutch Guiana	16	0	0	71	24	14	33	114	116	−2	86	1.211	CONCACAF
99	Zimbabwe Template:Country data RHO	12	0	0	73	22	20	31	69	90	−21	86	1.178	CAF
100	Albania	13	0	0	114	24	14	76	84	200	−116	86	0.754	UEFA
101	Solomon Islands	9	0	0	60	24	9	27	122	126	−4	81	1.350	OFC
102	Latvia	9	0	0	85	21	18	46	93	144	−51	81	0.953	UEFA
103	Singapore	13	0	0	84	23	12	49	89	168	−79	81	0.964	AFC
104	Congo	11	0	0	71	21	16	34	77	106	−29	79	1.113	CAF
105	Sudan	14	0	0	76	19	22	35	71	115	−44	79	1.039	CAF
106	Fiji	11	0	0	59	22	12	25	119	109	+10	78	1.322	OFC
107	Mali	7	0	0	52	20	15	17	66	57	+9	75	1.442	CAF
108	REDIRECT Template:Country data North Macedonia REDIRECT Template:Country data North Macedonia	7	0	0	72	20	15	37	95	115	−20	75	1.042	UEFA
109	East Germany	9	1	1	47	22	8	17	87	65	+22	74	1.574	defunct
110	Template:Country data CUW Netherlands Antilles Template:Country data Territory of Curaçao	18	0	0	68	18	20	30	75	120	−45	74	1.088	CONCACAF
111	Liberia	11	0	0	70	20	13	37	52	96	−44	73	1.043	CAF
112	Malawi	12	0	0	70	18	17	35	63	98	−35	71	1.014	CAF
113	Lithuania	10	0	0	81	18	16	47	63	130	−67	70	0.864	UEFA
114	New Caledonia	6	0	0	41	20	9	12	96	50	+46	69	1.683	OFC
115	Uganda	11	0	0	52	19	12	21	48	63	−15	69	1.327	CAF
116	Tajikistan	8	0	0	50	19	10	21	88	74	+14	67	1.340	AFC
117	Turkmenistan	8	0	0	52	20	7	25	76	84	−8	67	1.288	AFC
118	Tahiti	9	0	0	48	19	8	21	72	88	−16	65	1.354	OFC
119	Kyrgyzstan	8	0	0	51	19	7	25	76	81	−5	64	1.255	AFC
120	Benin Template:Country data DAH	10	0	0	54	18	9	27	55	96	−41	63	1.167	CAF
121	Vietnam Template:Country data VSO	10	0	0	65	19	6	40	70	115	−45	63	0.969	AFC
122	Estonia	10	0	0	84	17	12	55	74	187	−113	63	0.750	UEFA
123	Cyprus	16	0	0	124	16	15	93	91	320	−229	63	0.508	UEFA
124	Yemen North Yemen	11	0	0	66	15	16	35	67	108	−41	61	0.924	AFC
125	Cape Verde	7	0	0	44	18	6	20	46	56	−10	60	1.364	CAF
126	Bermuda	9	0	0	42	16	11	15	85	65	+20	59	1.405	CONCACAF
127	Armenia	7	0	0	72	13	17	42	61	142	−81	56	0.778	UEFA
128	Madagascar	11	0	0	46	15	10	21	54	62	−8	55	1.196	CAF
129	Namibia	9	0	0	54	14	13	27	52	94	−42	55	1.019	CAF
130	Palestine	7	0	0	46	14	12	20	68	60	+8	54	1.174	AFC
131	Belarus	7	0	0	66	14	12	40	68	121	−53	54	0.818	UEFA
132	Saint Kitts and Nevis	8	0	0	38	15	8	15	73	66	+7	53	1.395	CONCACAF
133	India	10	0	0	57	12	17	28	52	101	−49	53	0.930	AFC
134	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	9	0	0	64	15	8	41	82	193	−111	53	0.828	CONCACAF
135	Montenegro	4	0	0	40	13	13	14	61	58	+3	52	1.300	UEFA
136	Antigua and Barbuda	12	0	0	48	15	7	26	73	100	−27	52	1.083	CONCACAF
137	Mozambique	10	0	0	46	14	9	23	41	63	−22	51	1.109	CAF
138	Ethiopia	13	0	0	53	11	17	25	53	77	−24	50	0.943	CAF
139	Sierra Leone	12	0	0	51	13	11	27	45	77	−32	50	0.980	CAF
140	Georgia	7	0	0	64	11	17	36	57	101	−44	50	0.781	UEFA
141	Kazakhstan	7	0	0	68	12	14	42	76	148	−72	50	0.735	UEFA
142	Tanzania	11	0	0	44	11	14	19	45	62	−17	47	1.068	CAF
143	Dominican Republic	10	0	0	35	13	6	16	54	55	−1	45	1.286	CONCACAF
144	Niger	9	0	0	39	13	6	20	45	67	−22	45	1.154	CAF
145	Bangladesh	11	0	0	66	11	10	45	41	163	−122	43	0.652	AFC
146	Vanuatu	8	0	0	40	13	3	24	81	100	−19	42	1.050	OFC
147	Botswana	8	0	0	40	12	6	22	39	58	−19	42	1.050	CAF
148	Rwanda	8	0	0	48	10	11	27	44	64	−20	41	0.854	CAF
149	Barbados	10	0	0	43	11	6	26	40	83	−43	39	0.907	CONCACAF
150	Azerbaijan	7	0	0	66	7	15	44	34	122	−88	36	0.545	UEFA
151	Papua New Guinea	6	0	0	29	9	7	13	53	49	+4	34	1.172	OFC
152	Nicaragua	9	0	0	27	11	1	15	43	46	−3	34	1.259	CONCACAF
153	Samoa Western Samoa	7	0	0	31	11	1	19	42	104	−62	34	1.097	OFC
154	Luxembourg	21	0	0	142	8	10	124	77	451	−374	34	0.239	UEFA
155	Burundi	8	0	0	26	9	6	11	27	34	−7	33	1.269	CAF
156	Guyana	12	0	0	40	9	6	25	43	92	−49	33	0.825	CONCACAF
157	Puerto Rico	11	0	0	31	8	8	15	40	57	−17	32	1.032	CONCACAF
158	Equatorial Guinea	7	0	0	32	9	5	18	26	49	−23	32	1.000	CAF
159	Faroe Islands	8	0	0	80	8	8	64	41	207	−166	32	0.400	UEFA
160	Maldives	8	0	0	42	9	4	29	45	143	−98	31	0.738	AFC
161	Belize	8	0	0	31	8	6	17	38	66	−28	30	0.968	CONCACAF
162	Grenada	9	0	0	31	8	4	19	53	64	−11	28	0.903	CONCACAF
163	Moldova	7	0	0	68	5	13	50	40	145	−105	28	0.412	UEFA
164	Chinese Taipei Republic of China	13	0	0	74	8	4	62	48	251	−203	28	0.378	AFC
165	Gambia	10	0	0	30	7	6	17	30	48	−18	27	0.900	CAF
166	Philippines	6	0	0	35	7	6	22	31	82	−51	27	0.771	AFC
167	Afghanistan	6	0	0	30	7	6	17	20	74	−54	27	0.900	AFC
168	Nepal	9	0	0	46	7	6	33	31	143	−112	27	0.587	AFC
169	Guinea-Bissau	8	0	0	24	5	10	9	19	33	−14	25	1.042	CAF
170	Tonga	7	0	0	24	8	1	15	27	85	−58	25	1.042	OFC
171	Saint Lucia	8	0	0	26	7	2	17	35	66	−31	23	0.885	CONCACAF
172	Myanmar	5	0	0	30	6	4	20	25	102	−77	22	0.733	AFC
173	Lesotho	9	0	0	30	3	12	15	18	54	−36	21	0.700	CAF
174	Malta	13	0	0	112	3	12	97	42	330	−288	21	0.188	UEFA
175	Chad	7	0	0	22	6	2	14	17	35	−18	20	0.909	CAF
176	Mongolia	7	0	0	26	6	1	19	17	77	−60	19	0.731	AFC
177	Sri Lanka	9	0	0	41	4	7	30	27	103	−76	19	0.463	AFC
178	Eswatini Swaziland	9	0	0	25	4	5	16	17	47	−30	17	0.680	CAF
179	Aruba	8	0	0	22	5	2	15	28	65	−37	17	0.773	CONCACAF
180	Dominica	8	0	0	26	4	5	17	22	67	−45	17	0.654	CONCACAF
181	Cambodia	7	0	0	38	4	5	29	22	136	−114	17	0.447	AFC
182	Bahamas	7	0	0	20	4	4	12	21	66	−45	16	0.800	CONCACAF
183	Macau	11	0	0	39	4	3	32	17	173	−156	15	0.385	AFC
184	Andorra	6	0	0	62	4	3	55	22	186	−164	15	0.242	UEFA
185	Laos	6	0	0	30	3	5	22	24	127	−103	14	0.467	AFC
186	Comoros	5	0	0	14	3	4	7	13	25	−12	13	0.929	CAF
187	Liechtenstein	7	0	0	70	2	7	61	25	219	−194	13	0.186	UEFA
188	Central African Republic	5	0	0	20	3	3	14	19	39	−20	12	0.600	CAF
189	Mauritania	8	0	0	26	2	6	18	15	47	−32	12	0.462	CAF
190	Bhutan	3	0	0	14	4	0	10	11	62	−51	12	0.857	AFC
191		7	0	0	21	3	2	16	9	96	−87	11	0.524	CONCACAF
192	Mauritius	9	0	0	24	2	4	18	17	58	−41	10	0.417	CAF
193	Cook Islands	7	0	0	21	3	1	17	17	66	−49	10	0.476	OFC
194	Guam	4	0	0	22	3	1	18	11	87	−76	10	0.455	AFC
195	American Samoa	6	0	0	19	3	1	15	11	138	−127	10	0.526	OFC
196	Montserrat	7	0	0	15	2	3	10	19	56	−37	9	0.600	CONCACAF
197	Cayman Islands	8	0	0	22	1	6	15	9	56	−47	9	0.409	CONCACAF
198	Djibouti	6	0	0	25	2	3	20	14	96	−82	9	0.360	CAF
199	Pakistan	10	0	0	40	1	5	34	15	148	−133	8	0.200	AFC
200	São Tomé and Príncipe	6	0	0	14	2	1	11	6	35	−29	7	0.500	CAF
201	Template:Country data KOS	2	0	0	18	1	3	14	8	39	−31	6	0.333	UEFA
202	Somalia	8	0	0	17	1	3	13	6	38	−32	6	0.353	CAF
203	Brunei	5	0	0	18	2	0	16	5	74	−69	6	0.333	AFC
204	British Virgin Islands	7	0	0	18	0	5	13	8	61	−53	5	0.278	CONCACAF
205	Turks and Caicos Islands	7	0	0	15	1	2	12	7	69	−62	5	0.333	CONCACAF
206	Saar	1	0	0	4	1	1	2	4	8	−4	4	1.000	defunct
207	Template:Country data SSD	3	0	0	8	0	4	4	3	15	−12	4	0.500	CAF
208	Eritrea	5	0	0	10	0	3	7	4	20	−16	3	0.300	CAF
209	Anguilla	7	0	0	18	0	3	15	3	77	−74	3	0.167	CONCACAF
210	Seychelles	7	0	0	20	0	2	18	8	68	−60	2	0.100	CAF
211	San Marino	8	0	0	76	0	2	74	12	356	−344	2	0.026	UEFA
212	South Yemen	1	0	0	2	0	1	1	4	7	−3	1	0.500	defunct
213	Tuvalu	1	0	0	4	0	1	3	2	22	−20	1	0.250	OFC
214	Timor-Leste	5	0	0	18	0	0	18	6	87	−81	0	0.000	AFC
215	Gibraltar	2	0	0	20	0	0	20	7	90	−83	0	0.000	UEFA

Qualification tournament rules

Qualification tournaments generally consist of a number of stages, made up of groups or knock-out ties.

Groups

In all group tournaments, three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw, and none for a loss. FIFA has set the order of the tie-breakers for teams that finish level on points:

1. goal difference in all group matches
2. greater number of goals scored in all group matches

Where teams are still not able to be separated, the following tie-breakers are used:

1. greater number of points obtained in matches between the tied teams
2. goal difference in matches between the tied teams
3. greater number of goals scored in matches between the tied teams
4. goals scored away from home in matches between the tied teams, if the tie is only between two teams

Where teams are still equal, then a play-off on neutral ground, with extra time and penalties if necessary will be played if FIFA deems such a play-off able to be fitted within the coordinated international match calendar. If this is not deemed feasible, then the result will be determined by fair play points and then the drawing of lots.

Note that this order of tie-breaker application has not always been applied. While it was used in the 2010 qualifiers, the qualification for the 2006 World Cup used the head-to-head comparison prior to goal difference (although this system was – where applicable – used in the 2006 finals themselves). If these rules had applied in 2006, then Nigeria would have qualified rather than Angola.

Home-and-away ties

Most knock-out qualifiers (such as the inter-confederation play-offs and many preliminary ties) are played over two legs. The team that scores a greater aggregate number of goals qualifies. Away goals rule applies. If these rules fail to determine the winner, extra time and penalty shootouts are used.

Occasionally – usually when one entrant lacks adequate facilities to host international matches – ties are played over a single leg, in which case matches level after 90 minutes will go to extra time and then to a penalty shootout if required.

Alternatively, "home" matches can be played in neutral countries, or occasionally one team will host both matches. In the latter case the visiting team will still be considered as the "home" team for one of the legs – which may determine which side advances under the away goals rule, as occurred in CONCACAF qualification in 2010.

See also

• FIFA World Cup records and statistics
• FIFA Women's World Cup qualification
• UEFA European Championship qualifying
• AFC Asian Cup qualifiers
• CONCACAF Gold Cup qualification
• Asian nations at the FIFA World Cup
• African nations at the FIFA World Cup
• North, Central American and Caribbean nations at the FIFA World Cup
• South American nations at the FIFA World Cup
• Oceanian nations at the FIFA World Cup
• European nations at the FIFA World Cup

External links

• History of the FIFA World Cup preliminary competition (by year). Published by FIFA in November 2009; archived from the original by Wayback Machine on 23 October 2013.
• FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition Statistics (PDF) (archived 31 October 2008)
• FIFA World Cup Preliminary History (PDF) (archived 2 September 2009)
• FIFA World Cup 2022 Regulations
• FIFA – official documents