WORLD football governing body FIFA has announced that the draws for the final play-offs for the 2026 World Cup will be held this month.
While the African play-offs, which will involve the Super Eagles of Nigeria, are scheduled for next week, the intercontinental and European play-offs will be held next year.
“The final pathways to the game-changing FIFA World Cup 2026™ will be mapped out when the draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Play-Off Tournament and the European Play-Off draw take place at the Home of FIFA in Zurich, Switzerland, on Thursday, 20 November 2025,” FIFA stated today.
“The draws will define the routes the 22 competing nations – six via the Play-Off Tournament and 16 through European Play-Off matches – will need to successfully navigate to seal a spot at the first-ever 48-team FIFA World Cup™, which will be staged in Canada, Mexico and the United States from Thursday, 11 June to Sunday, 19 July 2026.
“The draws will be staged back-to-back, with the draw for the FIFA World Cup 2026 Play-Off Tournament commencing at 13:00 CET, followed by the European Play-Off equivalent.
“The draws will take place just two days after the completion of the November 2025 international match window, which promises to be another action-packed period as the list of qualified nations for the 23rd edition of the FIFA World Cup continues to take shape.
“Twenty-eight teams have already booked their places at next year’s historic tournament, with a further 14 nations – three from Concacaf and 11 from UEFA – set to punch their tickets to the finals via confederation qualifying this month.”
The Super Eagles will face Gabon on November 13 in the first semi-final of the African play-offs in Morocco for a spot in the final.
If the Super Eagles overcome Gabon, they will battle Cameroon or the Democratic Republic of Congo in the final for the sole ticket to the intercontinental play-offs in Mexico in March.
The winners of the African play-offs will join Bolivia, New Caledonia as well as other teams from Asia and North and Central America in the six-team play-off tournament.
The FIFA Play-Off Tournament will feature two finals where the winners of the two semi-finals between the unseeded teams will face the two seeded teams, with the eventual winners securing two spots at the FIFA World Cup 2026.
The European Play-Offs will be made up of 12 group runners-up and the four best-ranked UEFA Nations League section winners.
The 16 teams who enter will be drawn into four play-off paths, with four teams in each. Play-off matches will be played in single-leg semi-finals followed by single-leg finals to decide Europe’s final four FIFA World Cup 2026 participants.
“To ensure both draws can be conducted in accordance with the relevant draw procedures, the next edition of the FIFA/Coca-Cola Men’s World Ranking will be published on Wednesday, November 19,” FIFA explained.