A record 48 national teams are participating, with some countries getting their first taste of the World Cup next summer.
While Brazil has participated in all 22 tournaments, 132 of the 211 FIFA member associations have never participated.
advertise
BBC Sport takes a closer look at some of the players set to make their World Cup debut in 2026.
cape verde
Cape Verde, an archipelago off the west coast of Africa with a population of about 600,000, became the second smallest country to qualify for the World Cup, after Iceland in 2018, when they qualified in October, but that record was quickly taken away by Curacao.
Cape Verde beat Swaziland to secure a spot at next year’s World Cup and complete the game’s remarkable progress over the past 40 years.
In 1990, they competed in their first World Cup qualifying campaign, scouring the world for players with connections to Cape Verde to help them eventually qualify for the global tournament.
advertise
They currently have six Dutch-born players in their squad and one from Ireland – Shamrock Rovers defender Roberto Lopez.
The 33-year-old was born in Dublin but qualified to play for Cape Verde through his father and was recruited to play for Cape Verde through LinkedIn.
curacao
[AFP via Getty Images]
The Caribbean island of Curaçao will become the smallest country to take part in the World Cup after securing a spot with a draw with Steve McLaren’s Jamaica.
The record is held by Iceland, who reached the 2018 final, but their country is much larger than Curacao, which has a population of just over 150,000 (similar to Cambridge or Huddersfield) and a land area of ​​171 square miles, smaller than the Isle of Man.
advertise
Former England boss McClaren resigned as Jamaica boss after his side needed a win in Kingston to qualify for their first World Cup since 1998 but fell to a 0-0 draw that included an injury-time penalty that was dismissed by the video assistant referee (VAR).
Curacao head coach Dick Advocaat, who is absent from the game due to personal reasons, will become the oldest coach at the World Cup at the age of 78, breaking the record set by Otto Rehagel when he coached the Greek team in 2010 at the age of 71.
Curacao is 37 miles off the coast of Venezuela and did not become a country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands until 2010, when the Netherlands Antilles broke up.
Ten years ago, they were ranked 150th in FIFA’s world rankings. Now they are ranked 82nd.
advertise
Jordan
It was a long road, but Jordan finally qualified for the World Cup.
The Arab country first participated in qualifying 40 years ago but did not advance further until this year.
They finished second behind South Korea in Group B of the AFC Champions League qualifiers, ensuring a spot in next year’s competition.
In 2016, former Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth and Queens Park Rangers coach Harry Redknapp guided Jordan to two 2018 World Cup qualifiers in Russia.
Redknapp led the team to an 8-0 victory over Bangladesh and a 5-1 loss to Australia.
Uzbekistan
Uzbek defender Abdulkodir Kusanov joined Manchester City in January [AFP via Getty Images]
Another player advancing from the Asian qualifiers for the first time.
advertise
Uzbekistan has come close to qualifying for the World Cup on several occasions, including Germany in 2006 and Brazil in 2014, when they lost in the final round of qualifying.
They have some talented players in their ranks, including Manchester City defender Abdulkodil Kusanov – the first Uzbek player to play in the Premier League.
Who else can join them?
[AFP via Getty Images]
Surinam After leading most of the qualifying campaign, Panama came very close to competing in their first World Cup, but were beaten by Guatemala in the final round, beating El Salvador 3-0 to surpass them and automatically qualify.
advertise
But Suriname have another chance to qualify for the World Cup in the continental play-offs in March, and if they do so they will become the lowest-ranked team ever to qualify for the World Cup – they are currently ranked 123rd in the world.
This South American country has a population of just over 600,000, roughly similar to Leeds.
Also participating in the intercontinental play-offs New Caledonia.
The French territory consists of dozens of islands in the South Pacific with a total population of just under 300,000.
Their squad is made up of part-time players from the 10 teams of the New Caledonian Premier League and some players who are not higher than the fifth tier of French football.
advertise
