How do World Cup playoffs work? Explaining format, pathway for teams and more for UEFA, intercontinental versions

JUMP TO:

• What are the World Cup playoffs?
• How do the playoffs work?
• When are the playoffs?
• Where are the games staged?
• Which teams have qualified for the playoffs?
• Where were the playoff winners drawn to at the World Cup?
• History of the World Cup playoffs

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As countries all around the world hope to be amongst the 48 nations participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the final spots in the tournament field are being filled.

Now that the World Cup draw has been completed and 42 of the 48 nations have cemented their places at the final tournament, there are just the six playoff participants yet to be determined to fill out the field.

Those places will be filled by the UEFA and intercontinental playoffs, which take place just three months before the World Cup commences in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

The Sporting News details all you need to know about the playoffs, including who will participate, how they qualified, and the format by which the competition will be contested.

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What are the World Cup playoffs?

The World Cup playoffs are two mini-tournaments that offer certain teams another route into the finals if they failed to qualify automatically.

There are two different World Cup playoffs: one for European (UEFA) teams, and another comprising nations from different confederations (the intercontinental playoffs).

Since UEFA gets 16 spots at the newly expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup, they have their own playoff tournament for the last of those four places. The rest of the world, meanwhile, contests an inter-confederation playoff to determine the final two participants at the tournament.

The winners of the six different playoff pathways were assigned to Pot 4 for the World Cup group-stage draw in December, meaning they can expect to face a more difficult tournament than if they had qualified automatically.

UEFA playoffs

In UEFA World Cup qualifying for 2026, there were 54 participants hoping to secure one of Europe's 16 places at the competition.

Those 54 nations were spread out between 12 groups. While the group winner advanced to the World Cup automatically, the runners-up were placed in a knockout bracket along with a few UEFA Nations League qualifiers to determine four more participants.

FIFA intercontinental playoffs

The intercontinental playoffs, officially known as the World Cup playoff tournament, is the final pathway for teams hoping to qualify for the World Cup.

Started in 1998 as a one-off matchup between an Asian and Oceania qualifier, it has grown gradually into the six-team tournament it is today. The 2026 edition comprises one nation from the AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL and OFC confederations, and two from CONCACAF.

Each four-year cycle, as the format of World Cup qualification shifts with the times, the intercontinental playoffs also change slightly to fit the back-end of the qualifying system.

How do the playoffs work?

The UEFA and intercontinental editions have different entry methods, and the European version has a larger field, but each is essentially the same format: a single-elimination tournament in which teams will compete to reach a final, the winners of which will qualify for the World Cup.

2026 UEFA playoffs format

The second-place teams in each of the 16 UEFA qualifying groups advance to the playoffs, along with the four best-ranked group winners from the latest UEFA Nations League who failed to qualify automatically for the World Cup.

The teams are split into four pathways, each with four teams, contesting a four-team mini-bracket to determine the final qualifiers.

Both semifinals and finals are single-elimination matches, with extra time and penalties used if necessary to determine a winner. The host of each path's final was chosen by a random draw. The seeded teams play their semifinals at home.

Pathway A

Semifinal

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
March 26, 2026	2:45 p.m.	Italy 2-0 Northern Ireland	New Balance Arena (Bergamo, Italy)
March 26, 2026	2:45 p.m.	Wales 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia & Herzegovina adv. 4-3 on pens	Cardiff City Stadium (Cardiff, Wales)

Final

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
March 31, 2026	2:45 p.m.	Bosnia & Herzegovina vs. Italy	Bilino Polje Stadium (Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Pathway B

Semifinal

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
March 26, 2026	2:45 p.m.	Ukraine 1-3 Sweden	Estadi Ciutat de Valencia (Valencia, Spain)
March 26, 2026	2:45 p.m.	Poland 2-1 Albania	PGE Narodowy (Warsaw, Poland)

Final

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
March 31, 2026	2:45 p.m.	Sweden vs. Poland	Strawberry Arena (Stockholm, Sweden)

Pathway C

Semifinal

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
March 26, 2026	12 p.m.	Turkey 1-0 Romania	Besiktas Stadyumu (Istanbul, Turkey)
March 26, 2026	2:45 p.m.	Slovakia 3-4 Kosovo	Tehelne pole (Bratislava, Slovakia)

Final

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
March 31, 2026	2:45 p.m.	Kosovo vs. Turkey	Pristina City Stadium (Pristina, Kosovo)

Pathway D

Semifinal

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
March 26, 2026	2:45 p.m.	Denmark 4-0 North Macedonia	Parken (Copenhagen, Denmark)
March 26, 2026	2:45 p.m.	Czechia 2-2 Republic of Ireland Czechia adv. 4-3 on pens	Fortuna Arena (Prague-Vrsovice, Czechia)

Final

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
March 31, 2026	2:45 p.m.	Czechia vs. Denmark	epet ARENA (Prague, Czechia)

Intercontinental playoffs

Pathway 1

Semifinal

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
March 26	7 p.m.	New Caledonia vs. Jamaica	Estadio Akron (Guadalajara)

Final

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
March 31	5 p.m.	DR Congo vs. Jamaica	Estadio Akron (Guadalajara)

Pathway 2

Semifinal

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
March 26	1 p.m.	Bolivia vs. Suriname	Estadio BBVA (Monterrey)

Final

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
March 31	11 p.m.	Iraq vs. Bolivia	Estadio BBVA (Monterrey)

Which teams are playing in the World Cup playoffs?

Six teams will contest the 2026 FIFA intercontinental playoff, producing the final two World Cup participants. In the UEFA edition, 16 teams will compete for another two spots in the tournament proper.

Teams in UEFA playoffs

In the UEFA playoffs, the 12 group runners-up are joined by four qualifiers from the UEFA Nations League.

First up are the highest-ranked group winners yet to qualify, from League A all the way down to League D. If there are fewer than four of those remaining yet to qualify, they move to the highest-ranked group runners-up from the Nations League.

Nation	Qualified via	FIFA rank
Slovakia	Group A runner-up	44
Kosovo	Group B runner-up	79
Denmark	Group C runner-up	21
Ukraine	Group D runner-up	30
Turkey	Group E runner-up	25
Rep. of Ireland	Group F runner-up	59
Poland	Group G runner-up	34
Bosnia & Herzegovina	Group H runner-up	71
Italy	Group I runner-up	13
Wales	Group J runner-up	35
Albania	Group K runner-up	63
Czechia	Group L runner-up	43
Romania	UEFA Nations League	49
Sweden	UEFA Nations League	42
Northern Ireland	UEFA Nations League	69
North Macedonia	UEFA Nations League	65

Teams in intercontinental playoffs

Each confederation will produce one participant, while CONCACAF will have two. The below table details how they qualified for this phase.

Nation	Confederation	Qualified via	FIFA rank
Iraq	AFC	AFC playoff winner	58
DR Congo	CAF	CAF playoff winner	48
Jamaica	CONCACAF	Highest-ranking group runner-up	70
Suriname	CONCACAF	Second highest-ranking group runner-up	123
Bolivia	CONMEBOL	Seventh-place finisher	76
New Caledonia	OFC	Qualifying tournament runner-up	150

When are the World Cup playoffs?

Both the UEFA and intercontinental playoffs were contested in the March FIFA international window.

All semifinals were on March 26, with the finals on March 31. 

At the conclusion of these events, all 48 World Cup participants for the 2026 tournament will be confirmed.

Where are the World Cup playoffs played?

In the UEFA playoffs, the seeded teams play their semifinals at home. The home teams for the finalists are determined by a draw conducted in advance.

This is different to how the inter-confederation playoffs are staged.

Traditionally, the FIFA intercontinental playoffs are hosted by the same host nation that the coming World Cup will be contested in.

With the 2026 World Cup set to be played across three countries (USA, Canada, and Mexico), FIFA confirmed what the governor of Mexican province Nuevo Leon, Samuel Garcia gave away a month prior — that the intercontinental playoffs will be held in Mexico.

Two venues will hold two matches each — Estadio Akron in Guadalajara, and Estadio BBVA in Monterrey.

Where will the playoff winners be drawn at the World Cup?

The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw on December 6, 2025 set the matchups for the 2026 tournament.

With the playoff participants not yet known at the time of the draw, all playoff winners were entered into Pot 4 and drawn accordingly.

The UEFA playoff winners were drawn into groups A, B, D, and F. The intercontinental playoff winners were drawn into groups I and K.

Group A table

PosTeamPTSGPWLDGFGAGD

1.	Mexico	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	South Africa	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	South Korea	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	UEFA Playoff D	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

The UEFA Playoff D qualifier will be either Czechia, Republic of Ireland, Denmark, or North Macedonia

Group A fixtures

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
Thu, Jun. 11	3 p.m.	Mexico vs. South Africa	Mexico City Stadium (Mexico City, MEX)
Thu, Jun. 11	10 p.m.	South Korea vs. UEFA Playoff D winner	Estadio Guadalajara (Guadalajara, MEX)
Thu, Jun. 18	12 p.m.	UEFA Playoff D winner vs. South Africa	Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, GA)
Thu, Jun. 18	9 p.m.	Mexico vs. South Korea	Estadio Guadalajara (Guadalajara, MEX)
Wed, Jun. 24	9 p.m.	UEFA Playoff D winner vs. Mexico	Mexico City Stadium (Mexico City, MEX)
Wed, Jun. 24	9 p.m.	South Africa vs. South Korea	Estadio Monterrey (Monterrey, MEX)

STADIUM GUIDES: Estadio Azteca | Estadio Akron | Mercedes-Benz Stadium | Estadio BBVA

Group B table

PosTeamPTSGPWLDGFGAGD

1.	Canada	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	UEFA Playoff A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	Qatar	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	Switzerland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

The UEFA Playoff A qualifier will be either Italy, Wales, Northern Ireland, or Bosnia & Herzegovina

Group B fixtures

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
Fri, Jun. 12	3 p.m.	Canada vs. UEFA Playoff A winner	BMO Field (Toronto, CAN)
Sat, Jun. 13	3 p.m.	Qatar vs. Switzerland	Levi's Stadium (San Francisco, CA)
Thu, Jun. 18	3 p.m.	UEFA Playoff A winner vs. Switzerland	SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, CA)
Thu, Jun. 18	6 p.m.	Canada vs. Qatar	BC Place (Vancouver, CAN)
Wed, Jun. 24	3 p.m.	Switzerland vs. Canada	BC Place (Vancouver, CAN)
Wed, Jun. 24	3 p.m.	UEFA Playoff A winner vs. Qatar	Lumen Field (Seattle, WA)

STADIUM GUIDES: BMO Field | Levi's Stadium | SoFi Stadium | BC Place | Lumen Field

Group D table

PosTeamPTSGPWLDGFGAGD

1.	United States	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	Paraguay	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	UEFA Playoff C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

The UEFA Playoff C qualifier will be either Slovakia, Turkey, Kosovo, or Romania

Group D fixtures

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
Fri, Jun. 12	9 p.m.	United States vs. Paraguay	SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, CA)
Sat, Jun. 13	12 a.m.	Australia vs. UEFA Playoff C Winner	BC Place (Vancouver, CAN)
Sat, Jun. 20	12 a.m.	UEFA Playoff C Winner vs. Paraguay	Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara, CA)
Fri, Jun. 19	3 p.m.	United States vs. Australia	Lumen Field (Seattle, WA)
Thu, Jun. 25	10 p.m.	UEFA Playoff C Winner vs. United States	SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, CA)
Thu, Jun. 25	10 p.m.	Paraguay vs. Australia	Levi's Stadium (Santa Clara, CA)

STADIUM GUIDES: SoFi Stadium | BC Place | Levi's Stadium | Lumen Field

Group F table

PosTeamPTSGPWLDGFGAGD

1.	Netherlands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	Japan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	UEFA Playoff B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	Tunisia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

The UEFA Playoff B qualifier will be either Ukraine, Sweden, Poland, or Albania

Group F fixtures

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
Sun, Jun. 14	4 p.m.	Netherlands vs. Japan	AT&T Stadium (Arlington, TX)
Sun, Jun. 14	10 p.m.	UEFA Playoff B Winner vs. Tunisia	Estadio BBVA (Monterrey, MEX)
Sat, Jun. 20	1 p.m.	Tunisia vs. Japan	Estadio BBVA (Monterrey, MEX)
Sat, Jun. 20	12 a.m.	Netherlands vs. UEFA Playoff B Winner	NRG Stadium (Houston, TX)
Thu, Jun. 25	7 p.m.	Tunisia vs. Netherlands	AT&T Stadium (Arlington, TX)
Thu, Jun. 25	7 p.m.	Japan vs. UEFA Playoff B Winner	Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City, MO)

Group I table

PosTeamPTSGPWLDGFGAGD

1.	France	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	Senegal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	FIFA Playoff 2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	Norway	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

The FIFA Intercontinental Playoff 2 qualifier will be either Iraq, Bolivia, or Suriname.

Group I fixtures

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
Tue, Jun. 16	3 p.m.	France vs. Senegal	MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ)
Tue, Jun. 16	6 p.m.	FIFA Playoff 2 Winner vs. Norway	Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, MA)
Mon, Jun. 22	5 p.m.	France vs. Playoff 2 Winner	Lincoln Financial Field (Philadelphia, PA)
Mon, Jun. 22	8 p.m.	Norway vs. Senegal	MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, NJ)
Fri, Jun. 26	3 p.m.	Norway vs. France	Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, MA)
Fri, Jun. 26	3 p.m.	Senegal vs. FIFA Playoff 2 Winner	BMO Field (Toronto, CAN)

Group K table

PosTeamPTSGPWLDGFGAGD

1.	Portugal	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2.	FIFA Playoff 1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3.	Uzbekistan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4.	Colombia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

The FIFA Intercontinental Playoff 1 qualifier will be either DR Congo, Jamaica, or New Caledonia.

Group K fixtures

Date	Time (ET)	Match	Location
Fri, Jun. 17	1 p.m.	Portugal vs. TBD	NRG Stadium (Houston, TX)
Fri, Jun. 17	10 p.m.	Uzbekistan vs. Colombia	Estadio Azteca (Mexico City, MEX)
Tue, Jun. 23	1 p.m.	Portugal vs. Uzbekistan	NRG Stadium (Houston, TX)
Tue, Jun. 23	10 p.m.	Colombia vs. TBD	Estadio Akron (Guadalajara, MEX)
Sat, Jun. 27	7:30 p.m.	Colombia vs. Portugal	Hard Rock Stadium (Miami, FL)
Sat, Jun. 27	7:30 p.m.	TBD vs. Uzbekistan	Mercedes-Benz Stadium (Atlanta, GA)

World Cup playoff history, past results

UEFA playoffs

UEFA has been using a playoff system since 2010, when they were removed from contention at the intercontinental playoff and broken off into their own system.

In the first iteration of the UEFA playoff, eight teams qualified and were matched up by random draw in four two-legged pairings to determine the four qualifiers. It remained this way until the 2022 cycle when it was changed to the current format.

While there were only three playoff qualifiers at in 2022, that has been moved to four with the expansion to 48 teams for the 2026 competition.

Year	Qualifier	Defeated in Final
2010	France	Rep. of Ireland
	Portugal	Bosnia & Herzegovina
	Greece	Ukraine
	Slovenia	Russia
2014	Portugal	Sweden
	France	Ukraine
	Greece	Romania
	Croatia	Iceland
2018	Switzerland	Northern Ireland
	Croatia	Greece
	Denmark	Rep. of Ireland
	Sweden	Italy
2022	Wales	Ukraine
	Poland	Sweden
	Portugal	North Macedonia

Intercontinental playoffs

This is the first year that six teams will participate in the intercontinental playoff.

The first edition of the intercontinental playoff was just two teams, as Iran and Australia matched up for a two-legged playoff to determine the final World Cup participant.

From 2002 all the way until 2022, the intercontinental playoff saw four teams participate, pushing for two qualifying spots.

Year	Qualifier	Confederation
1998	Iran*	AFC
2002	Rep. of Ireland	UEFA
	Uruguay	CONMEBOL
2006	Trinidad & Tobago	CONCACAF
	Australia	OFC
2010	New Zealand	OFC
	Uruguay	CONMEBOL
2014	Uruguay	CONMEBOL
	Mexico	CONCACAF
2018	Australia	AFC
	Peru	CONMEBOL
2022	Australia	AFC
	Costa Rica	CONCACAF

* Progressed via away goals rule after 3-3 aggregate draw