FIFA World Cup qualification

The FIFA World Cup qualification is the process that a national association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA World Cup Finals. The FIFA World Cup is the largest international team sport competition in the world with a qualification process required to reduce the large field of countries from 211 to just 32 for the World Cup Finals.

Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North and Central America and Caribbean, South America, Oceania, Europe), and are organized by their respective confederations. For each tournament, FIFA decides beforehand the number of places in the finals allocated to each of the continental zones, based on the numbers and/or relative strength of the confederations' teams.

The hosts of the World Cup receive an automatic berth. Unlike many other sports, results of the previous World Cups or of the continental championships are not taken into account. Until 2002, the defending champions also received an automatic berth, but starting from the 2006 World Cup this is no longer the case.

The current qualification process is the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification which commenced in 2015 and will finish in late 2017.

History

Over many years, the World Cup's qualification has evolved, from having no qualification at all in 1930, when the tournament was invitational and only 13 teams entered, to the current two-year process. The first World Cup qualifying match was played on 11 June 1933 when Sweden defeated Estonia 6–2 in Stockholm. The first ever goal in a World Cup qualifying match was scored 7 minutes into the game: it was scored according to some sources by Swedish captain Knut Kroon, or according to other sources by Estonian goalkeeper Evald Tipner (own goal).

While the number of teams which qualified for the finals has increased steadily, from 16 between 1934 and 1978, to 24 between 1982 and 1994, and finally to 32 starting from 1998, the qualification format has been basically the same throughout the history of the World Cup. The teams have been grouped continentally, and they competed for a fixed number of places, with one or two places awarded to the winners of intercontinental play-offs.

Qualification spots by continent

The table below lists the numbers of spots allocated by FIFA for each continent in each tournament. If no places were allocated to a continent, such as in the case of Oceania prior to 1966 and Africa in 1950, this does not indicate an exclusion of those continents by FIFA, but rather that no country of those continents made an entry to the aforementioned Cups.^[1]

A large part of Africa was under colonial rule during part of the 20th century, mainly the first half of the century. As of 1954, only 3 African countries were affiliated to FIFA: Egypt, in 1923, Sudan, in 1948, and Ethiopia, in 1952.^[2] Sudan and Ethiopia made entries for no Cup prior to 1958. Egypt made entries for the 1934, 1938 and 1954 Cups, though not for the 1930 and 1950 Cups. Though an African country, Egypt entered in 1938 and 1954 in the European group, therefore the table below gives no data about Africa for these two Cups.

Places in the intercontinental play-offs count as 0.5 spots. Numbers in bold represent the winners of the intercontinental play-offs. "+C" denotes an additional spot for defending champions. "+H" denotes an additional spot for hosts.

Places allocated for continents

Continental zone	1934 (16)	1938 (15)^1	1950 (13)^2	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)^6	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	2022 (32)
Africa	1	0			0.5^3	0.5^4	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	5	5	5	5 +H	5	5
Asia		1	1^2	1		0.5^4		1	1	1	2	2	2	2	3.5	2.5 +2H	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	H
Oceania	0											0.5	0.5	0.25^5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5
Europe	12	11^1 +C+H	7^2 +C	11 +H	9.5^3 +C+H	8+^4 2×0.5	9 +H	8 +C	8.5 +H	8.5 +C	13 +H	12.5 +C	13 +H	12 +C	14 +H	13.5 +C	13 +H	13	13	13 +H
North and Central America and Caribbean	1	1	2	1	1	0.5	1	1 +H	1	1	2	1 +H	2	1.25^5 +H	3	3	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5
South America	2	1	4 +H	1 +C	3	3.5 +C+H	3 +C	3	2.5 +C	2.5 +H	3 +C	4	2.5 +C	3.5^5	4 +C	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5 +H	4.5
Total	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	24	24	24	24	32	32	32	32	32	32	32

• ¹ In 1938, Austria withdrew after qualifying due to being annexed by Germany and were not replaced, so only 15 teams, 12 of them European, played in the finals.
• ² In 1950, India, Scotland and Turkey withdrew after qualifying and were not replaced, so only 13 teams, none of them Asian and 6 of them European, played in the finals.
• ³ Initially in 1958, Africa and Asia together were given 1 spot, while Europe was given 9 spots. However, after Israel won the African and Asian zone without playing any matches due to withdrawals of other teams, a special play-off was arranged between them and a European team (Wales). So in effect, Africa and Asia together were given 0.5 spots, while Europe was given 9.5 spots.
• ⁴ In 1962, Europe was given 8 automatic spots, plus 2 additional spots in the intercontinental play-offs, in effect giving them 9 spots. The two European teams played an African team and an Asian team respectively, and both European teams won. Therefore, 10 European teams played in the finals.
• ⁵ In 1994, there were two rounds of intercontinental play-offs. First, an Oceanian team played a team from North and Central America and Caribbean, and the winner then played a South American team.
• ⁶ From the 2006 qualifiers on, the defending champion no longer has an automatic spot secured.

Qualification competition entrants over time

The number of teams entering the qualification process and the number of matches played have been steadily growing over time. Though an African country, Egypt entered in 1938 and 1954 into the European group, therefore being zero the below indicator as for Africa in these years.

Number of teams entering qualification (including automatic qualifiers)

Continental zone	1934 (16)	1938 (15)	1950 (13)	1954 (16)	1958 (16)	1962 (16)	1966 (16)	1970 (16)	1974 (16)	1978 (16)	1982 (24)	1986 (24)	1990 (24)	1994 (24)	1998 (32)	2002 (32)	2006 (32)	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	2022 (32)
Africa	3	0	0	0	11	6	21	13	24	26	29	29	26	40	38	51	51	53	52	54
Asia		2	4	3		5		7	18	22	21	27	26	29	36	42	39	43	43	46
Oceania^1	0	0	0	0	0	0						4	5	7	10	10	12	11	11	11
Europe	21	26	19	29	29	30	33	31	33	32	34	33	33	39	50	51	52	53	53	54
North and Central America and Caribbean^2	4	7	3	5	6	8	10	14	14	17	15	18	16	23	30	35	34	35	35	35
South America	4	2	8	6	9	9	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	9	10	10	10	10	10	10
Total entrants	32	37	34	45	55	56	74	75	99	107	109	121	116	147	174	199	198	205^4	204	210
Teams played^3	27	21	19	33	46	49	51	68	90	95	103	110	103	130	168	193	194	200^4	203	208
Matches played	27	22	26	57	89	92	127	172	226	252	306	308	314	497	643	777	847	853	828	498
Goals scored	141	96	121	208	341	325	393	542	620	723	797	801	735	1446	1922	2452	2464	2344	2303	1463
Average goals per match	5.22	4.36	4.65	3.65	3.83	3.53	3.09	3.15	2.74	2.87	2.60	2.60	2.34	2.91	2.99	3.16	2.91	2.75	2.81	2.94

• ¹ Because the Oceania Football Confederation has used the World Cup Qualifiers as a phase of (or as the entire) OFC Nations Cup, there is the possibility that non-FIFA countries may play in matches that double as World Cup qualifiers. In the 2006 qualifiers, New Caledonia were included in the tournament although they were not FIFA members at the date of close of entries. They are, however, included in the 12 nations listed as they joined FIFA during the course of qualification, even though they had been technically eliminated from contention a few days earlier (a similar situation occurred in the entries for 2010, with Montenegro's entry accepted prior to their admission by FIFA). By contrast, Tuvalu competed in the 2007 South Pacific Games Football tournament, which doubled as qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup. As they were not FIFA members at the time of the completion of the competition, they are not included in the 11 OFC entrants, although their results counted towards the qualification of other teams.
• ² From 1973 to 1989, the CONCACAF Championship and its qualifying tournament were used to determine CONCACAF's entrant in the World Cup. The confederation's champion qualified outright.
• ³ "Teams played" is the total number of teams that played at least one qualifying match.
• ⁴ This number includes Tuvalu (see note 1) and South Africa. Although South Africa qualified automatically for 2010 as hosts, they competed in the CAF qualifiers, becoming the first hosts to compete in World Cup qualifying since 1934. This is because the Confederation of African Football used its 2010 World Cup qualifiers as the qualifying phase for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, a tournament for which South Africa had attempted to qualify.

First appearance in qualification by team

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

World Cup	Europe	South America	North, Central America and Caribbean	Asia	Africa	Oceania	Total
1934	Austria  Belgium  Bulgaria  Czechoslovakia[upper-alpha 1]  Estonia  France  Germany[upper-alpha 2]  Greece  Hungary  Irish Free State[upper-alpha 3]  Italy[upper-alpha 4]  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Netherlands  Poland  Portugal  Romania  Spain  Sweden   Switzerland  Yugoslavia[upper-alpha 5]	none	Cuba  Haiti  Mexico  United States	Palestine, British Mandate[upper-alpha 6]	Egypt[upper-alpha 7]	none	27
1938	Finland  Latvia  Norway	none	none	none	none	none	3
1950	England  Ireland[upper-alpha 8]  Scotland  Turkey[upper-alpha 9]  Wales	none	none	Syria	none	none	6
1954	Saar	Brazil[upper-alpha 10]  Chile[upper-alpha 11]  Paraguay[upper-alpha 12]	none	Japan[upper-alpha 13]  South Korea	none	none	6
1958	Denmark  East Germany  Iceland  Soviet Union[upper-alpha 14]	Argentina[upper-alpha 15]  Bolivia[upper-alpha 16]  Colombia[upper-alpha 17]  Peru[upper-alpha 18]  Uruguay[upper-alpha 19]	Canada  Costa Rica[upper-alpha 20]  Guatemala  Territory of Curaçao[upper-alpha 21]	China PR  Indonesia[upper-alpha 22]	Sudan	none	16
1962	Cyprus[upper-alpha 23]	Ecuador[upper-alpha 24]	Dutch Guyana[upper-alpha 25]  Honduras	none	Ethiopia  Ghana  Morocco  Nigeria  Tunisia	none	9
1966	Albania	Venezuela[upper-alpha 26]	Jamaica  Trinidad and Tobago	North Korea	none	Australia	6
1970	none	none	Bermuda  El Salvador[upper-alpha 27]	none	Algeria[upper-alpha 28]  Cameroon[upper-alpha 29]  Libya[upper-alpha 30]  Rhodesia[upper-alpha 31]  Senegal[upper-alpha 32]  Zambia	New Zealand	9
1974	Malta	none	Antigua and Barbuda  Puerto Rico	Hong Kong  Iran  Iraq  Kuwait  Malaysia  South Vietnam[upper-alpha 33]  Thailand	Congo  Dahomey[upper-alpha 34]  Guinea[upper-alpha 35]  Ivory Coast  Kenya  Lesotho  Mauritius  Sierra Leone  Tanzania  Togo  Zaire[upper-alpha 36]	none	21
1978	none	none	Barbados  Dominican Republic  Guyana  Panama	Bahrain  Qatar  Republic of China[upper-alpha 37]  Saudi Arabia  Singapore	Malawi  Mauritania  Niger  Uganda  Upper Volta[upper-alpha 38]	none	14
1982	none	none	Grenada	Macau	Gambia  Liberia[upper-alpha 39]  Madagascar[upper-alpha 40]  Mozambique  Somalia	Fiji	8
1986	none	none	none	Bangladesh  Brunei  Jordan  India[upper-alpha 41]    Nepal  North Yemen[upper-alpha 42]  South Yemen  United Arab Emirates[upper-alpha 43]	Angola	none	9
1990	none	none	none	Oman[upper-alpha 44]  Pakistan	Gabon[upper-alpha 45]	none	3
1994	Faroe Islands  San Marino	none	Nicaragua  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Lebanon[upper-alpha 46]  Sri Lanka[upper-alpha 47]	Botswana  Burundi  Namibia  South Africa  Swaziland	Solomon Islands  Tahiti  Vanuatu	15
1998	Armenia  Azerbaijan  Belarus  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Croatia  Georgia  Liechtenstein[upper-alpha 48]  Macedonia  Moldova  Slovakia  Slovenia  Ukraine	none	Aruba  Belize  Cayman Islands  Dominica  Saint Kitts and Nevis	Cambodia  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan  Maldives[upper-alpha 49]  Philippines[upper-alpha 50]  Tajikistan  Turkmenistan  Uzbekistan	Guinea-Bissau  Rwanda[upper-alpha 51]	Cook Islands  Papua New Guinea  Tonga  Western Samoa[upper-alpha 52]	31
2002	Andorra	none	Anguilla  Bahamas[upper-alpha 53]  British Virgin Islands  Montserrat  Turks and Caicos Islands  U.S. Virgin Islands	Guam  Laos  Mongolia  Palestine	Cape Verde  Central African Republic[upper-alpha 54]  Chad  Djibouti  Equatorial Guinea  Eritrea  Mali[upper-alpha 55]  São Tomé and Príncipe[upper-alpha 56]  Seychelles	American Samoa	21
2006	none	none	none	Afghanistan	none	New Caledonia	2
2010	Montenegro	none	none	Myanmar[upper-alpha 57]  Timor-Leste	Comoros	Tuvalu[upper-alpha 58]	5
2014	none	none	none	none	none	none	0
2018	Gibraltar  Kosovo	none	none	Bhutan[upper-alpha 59]	South Sudan	none	4
Total							215[upper-alpha 60]

Notes

1. The Czechoslovakia team was officially renamed as the  Representation of Czechs and Slovaks during the 1994 qualification, and was then succeeded by the  Czech Republic (first appearance: 1998).
2. Germany was later succeeded by  West Germany (first appearance: 1954), which in turn was succeeded by the reunified  Germany (first appearance: 1994).
3. The Irish Free State was later succeeded by  Ireland (first appearance: 1950), which later became officially known as the  Republic of Ireland (first appearance: 1954).
4. Italy had to qualify for the tournament despite being the host.
5. The  Kingdom of Yugoslavia was later succeeded by the  Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (first appearance: 1950), which was then succeeded by the  Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (first appearance: 1998), which was later renamed as  Serbia and Montenegro (first appearance: 2006), which in turn was succeeded by  Serbia (first appearance: 2010).
6. Mandatory Palestine was later succeeded by  Israel (first appearance: 1950).
7. Egypt was later succeeded by the  United Arab Republic, a political union between Egypt and Syria, which entered the 1962 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches. Later, Egypt entered the 1966 qualification independently but still under the name "United Arab Republic", but withdrew yet again before playing any matches. The team's first appearance after it changed its name back to  Egypt came in 1974.
8. Ireland was later succeeded by  Northern Ireland (first appearance: 1954).
9. Turkey entered the 1934 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
10. Brazil entered the 1934 and 1938 qualifications, but on both occasions qualified by walkover due to other teams' withdrawals. It also qualified automatically for the 1950 World Cup as host.
11. Chile entered the 1934 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches. It also entered the 1950 qualification, but qualified by walkover due to other teams' withdrawals.
12. Paraguay entered the 1950 qualification, but qualified by walkover due to other teams' withdrawals.
13. Japan entered the 1938 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
14. The Soviet Union was later succeeded by  Russia (first appearance: 1994).
15. Argentina entered the 1934 qualification, but qualified by walkover due to other teams' withdrawals. It also entered the 1938 and 1950 qualifications, but on both occasions withdrew before playing any matches.
16. Bolivia entered the 1950 qualification, but qualified by walkover due to other teams' withdrawals.
17. Colombia entered the 1938 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
18. Peru entered the 1934, 1950 and 1954 qualifications, but on all three occasions withdrew before playing any matches.
19. Uruguay entered the 1950 qualification, but qualified by walkover due to other teams' withdrawals. It also qualified automatically for the 1954 World Cup as defending champion.
20. Costa Rica entered the 1938 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
21. The  Territory of Curaçao (six islands) was later succeeded by the  Netherlands Antilles (first appearance: 1962), which in turn was succeeded by  Curaçao (one island; first appearance: 2014).
22. Indonesia entered the 1938 qualification as  Dutch East Indies, but qualified by walkover due to other teams' withdrawals. It also entered the 1950 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
23. Cyprus entered the 1958 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
24. Ecuador entered the 1950 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
25. Dutch Guyana entered the 1938 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches. It was later succeeded by  Suriname (first appearance: 1978).
26. Venezuela entered the 1958 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
27. El Salvador entered the 1938 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
28. Algeria entered the 1966 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
29. Cameroon entered the 1966 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
30. Libya entered the 1966 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
31. Rhodesia was later succeeded by  Zimbabwe (first appearance: 1982).
32. Senegal entered the 1966 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
33. South Vietnam was later succeeded by  Vietnam (first appearance: 1994).
34. Dahomey was later renamed as  Benin (first appearance: 1986).
35. Guinea entered the 1966 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
36. Zaire was renamed as  DR Congo during the 1998 qualification.
37. The Republic of China entered the 1954 and 1958 qualifications, but on both occasions withdrew before playing any matches. It later became officially known as  Chinese Taipei (first appearance: 1982).
38. Upper Volta was later renamed as  Burkina Faso (first appearance: 1990).
39. Liberia entered the 1966 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
40. Madagascar entered the 1974 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
41. India entered the 1950 qualification, but qualified by walkover due to other teams' withdrawals, and subsequently withdrew from participation in the finals. It also entered the 1974 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
42. North Yemen was later succeeded by  Yemen (first appearance: 1994).
43. The United Arab Emirates entered the 1978 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
44. Oman entered the 1986 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
45. Gabon entered the 1966 and 1974 qualifications, but on both occasions withdrew before playing any matches.
46. Lebanon entered but was disqualified during the 1986 qualification, and the team's matches from that campaign were annulled.
47. Sri Lanka entered the 1974 (as  Ceylon) and 1978 qualifications, but on both occasions withdrew before playing any matches.
48. Liechtenstein entered the 1994 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
49. The Maldives entered the 1990 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
50. The Philippines entered the 1950 and 1974 qualifications, but on both occasions withdrew before playing any matches.
51. Rwanda entered the 1990 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
52. Western Samoa entered the 1994 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches. It was later renamed as  Samoa (first appearance: 2002).
53. The Bahamas entered the 1998 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
54. The Central African Republic entered the 1978 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches. It also entered the 1982 qualification, but was disqualified before playing any matches.
55. Mali entered the 1966, 1994 and 1998 qualifications, but on all three occasions withdrew before playing any matches.
56. São Tomé and Príncipe entered the 1994 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
57. Myanmar entered the 1950 (as  Burma), 1994 and 2002 qualifications, but on all three occasions withdrew before playing any matches.
58. Tuvalu was not a member of FIFA at the time of qualification and had not entered the FIFA World Cup, although matches in the Football tournament of the South Pacific Games did count towards the qualification tournament for the OFC, and Tuvalu's results did count in determining advancement from this stage.
59. Bhutan entered the 2010 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
60. Confederation subtotals are not given because a few teams have appeared in World Cup qualifiers in multiple confederations.

National teams results in World Cup preliminary competition (1934–2018)

Legend
Team has won the World Cup
Team has qualified for the main tournament through a qualifying process
Team has qualified for the main tournament only by walkover (Cuba and Indonesia)
Team has qualified for the main tournament by walkover but hasn't participated in the finals because it withdrew (India)
Team hasn't qualified for the main tournament
Defunct team that has qualified for the main tournament (East Germany)
Defunct team that hasn't 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 still participating in the 2018 qualification. The table is updated to matches played in November 2016.

Team	Appearances[n 1]	Overall qualification record							Points[n 2]		Confederation
		Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Total	Avg
Mexico	16	167	108	35	24	422	120	+302	359	2.15	CONCACAF
Costa Rica	16	164	83	39	42	287	168	+119	288	1.76	CONCACAF
South Korea	14	130	81	34	15	261	82	+179	277	2.13	AFC
Australia	14	132	77	33	22	348	104	+244	264	2.00	AFC
Netherlands	18	119	78	24	17	283	85	+198	258	2.17	UEFA
Iran	10	123	75	32	16	261	79	+182	257	2.09	AFC
United States	18	146	74	33	39	250	174	+76	255	1.75	CONCACAF
Argentina	13	130	73	33	24	230	123	+107	252	1.94	CONMEBOL
Spain	18	111	75	25	11	255	74	+181	250	2.25	UEFA
Sweden	19	123	75	20	28	246	115	+131	245	1.99	UEFA
Czech Republic (1998—)  Representation of Czechs and Slovaks (1994)  Czechoslovakia (1934–1994)	19	132	72	28	32	251	110	+141	244	1.85	UEFA
Serbia (2010—)  Serbia and Montenegro (2006)  FR Yugoslavia (1998–2002)  SFR Yugoslavia (1950–1990)  Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1934–1938)	19	122	71	30	21	258	109	+149	243	1.99	UEFA
Portugal	20	133	70	33	30	246	138	+108	243	1.83	UEFA
Russia (1994—)  Soviet Union (1958–1990)	15	115	73	23	19	227	75	+152	242	2.10	UEFA
Uruguay	16	148	67	40	41	210	155	+55	241	1.63	CONMEBOL
Belgium	19	127	72	24	31	255	136	+119	240	1.89	UEFA
England	16	106	71	24	11	263	64	+199	237	2.24	UEFA
Honduras	14	140	67	35	38	244	153	+91	236	1.69	CONCACAF
Italy	16	101	70	24	7	211	64	+147	234	2.32	UEFA
Saudi Arabia	11	113	65	28	20	224	88	+136	223	1.97	AFC
Germany (1994—)  West Germany (1954–1990)  Germany (1934–1938)	14	88	68	18	2	265	66	+199	222	2.52	UEFA
Brazil	12	104	64	28	12	227	68	+159	220	2.12	CONMEBOL
Japan	14	115	65	25	25	238	83	+155	220	1.91	AFC
Romania	17	122	65	24	33	217	128	+89	219	1.80	UEFA
Paraguay	17	148	63	30	55	193	181	+12	219	1.48	CONMEBOL
El Salvador	13	140	63	28	49	233	168	+65	217	1.55	CONCACAF
Colombia	16	146	55	43	48	174	155	+19	208	1.42	CONMEBOL
Switzerland	19	124	58	32	34	190	142	+48	206	1.66	UEFA
Chile	15	140	59	29	52	212	185	+27	206	1.47	CONMEBOL
France	17	105	61	22	22	205	84	+121	205	1.95	UEFA
China PR	11	103	63	15	25	224	70	+154	204	1.98	AFC
Republic of Ireland (1954—)  Ireland (1950)  Irish Free State (1934–1938)	20	133	54	39	40	193	161	+32	201	1.51	UEFA
Scotland	18	119	58	26	35	181	132	+49	200	1.68	UEFA
Bulgaria	19	123	58	26	39	201	168	+33	200	1.63	UEFA
Nigeria	14	100	56	28	16	169	76	+93	196	1.96	CAF
Austria	18	117	56	26	35	204	131	+73	194	1.66	UEFA
Hungary	18	116	56	26	34	210	152	+58	194	1.67	UEFA
Tunisia	14	100	55	26	19	172	80	+92	191	1.91	CAF
Poland	18	111	55	21	35	210	134	+76	186	1.68	UEFA
Denmark	15	114	53	27	34	194	137	+57	186	1.63	UEFA
Trinidad and Tobago	14	129	53	27	49	195	169	+26	186	1.44	CONCACAF
Morocco	14	107	48	37	22	139	80	+59	181	1.69	CAF
Greece	19	120	52	25	43	150	163	−13	181	1.51	UEFA
Guatemala	15	122	49	31	42	194	150	+44	178	1.46	CONCACAF
Canada	14	117	48	34	35	161	136	+25	178	1.52	CONCACAF
Ecuador	15	137	47	33	57	165	189	−24	174	1.27	CONMEBOL
Cameroon	13	83	50	20	13	139	59	+80	170	2.05	CAF
Qatar	11	107	49	22	36	176	112	+64	169	1.58	AFC
Egypt	14	89	50	18	21	161	86	+75	168	1.89	CAF
New Zealand	13	90	50	16	24	209	94	+115	166	1.84	OFC
Uzbekistan	6	89	48	18	23	176	91	+85	162	1.82	AFC
Iraq	11	96	46	22	28	196	99	+97	160	1.67	AFC
Kuwait	12	93	48	14	31	160	92	+68	158	1.70	AFC
Turkey	17	122	44	23	55	167	179	−12	155	1.27	UEFA
Norway	18	120	41	29	50	158	169	−11	152	1.27	UEFA
Northern Ireland (1954—)  Ireland (1950)	18	126	39	35	52	140	156	−16	152	1.21	UEFA
Israel (1950—)  Palestine, British Mandate (1934–1938)	20	116	39	34	43	164	168	−4	151	1.30	UEFA
Peru	16	141	39	33	69	153	205	−52	150	1.06	CONMEBOL
Zambia	13	92	43	19	30	139	84	+55	148	1.61	CAF
Ivory Coast	11	74	40	24	10	140	63	+77	144	1.95	CAF
United Arab Emirates	9	92	41	19	32	158	104	+54	142	1.54	AFC
Algeria	13	85	39	23	23	122	85	+37	140	1.65	CAF
Bolivia	16	144	37	28	79	171	277	−106	139	0.97	CONMEBOL
Jamaica	11	104	37	27	40	115	132	−17	138	1.33	CONCACAF
Ghana	13	79	39	19	21	125	63	+62	136	1.72	CAF
North Korea	10	83	39	19	25	116	77	+39	136	1.64	AFC
Haiti	14	90	39	17	34	152	120	+32	134	1.49	CONCACAF
Wales	18	114	34	24	56	146	168	−22	126	1.11	UEFA
Syria	14	77	34	17	26	164	88	+76	119	1.55	AFC
Ukraine	6	64	32	22	10	102	46	+56	118	1.84	UEFA
DR Congo (1998—)  Zaire (1974–1998)	10	72	34	16	22	120	78	+42	118	1.64	CAF
Bahrain	10	88	31	25	32	105	94	+11	118	1.34	AFC
Croatia	6	54	32	16	6	99	43	+56	112	2.07	UEFA
Guinea	12	70	34	10	26	108	85	+23	112	1.60	CAF
Finland	19	123	30	21	72	128	280	−152	111	0.90	UEFA
Oman	8	70	29	19	22	115	70	+45	106	1.51	AFC
Slovakia	6	58	28	14	16	100	59	+41	98	1.69	UEFA
Jordan	9	70	28	14	28	105	92	+13	98	1.40	AFC
Angola	9	61	24	22	15	79	57	+22	94	1.54	CAF
Panama	11	86	25	19	42	96	147	−51	94	1.09	CONCACAF
Venezuela	13	134	24	21	89	115	308	−193	93	0.69	CONMEBOL
South Africa	7	46	28	8	10	62	37	+25	92	2.00	CAF
Senegal	12	60	23	20	17	84	57	+27	89	1.48	CAF
Thailand	12	84	24	17	43	113	144	−31	89	1.06	AFC
Iceland	13	100	23	19	58	106	213	−107	88	0.88	UEFA
Kenya	12	68	23	16	29	77	91	−14	85	1.25	CAF
Bosnia and Herzegovina	6	52	25	9	18	96	61	+35	84	1.62	UEFA
Slovenia	6	56	23	14	19	73	63	+10	83	1.48	UEFA
Burkina Faso (1990—)  Upper Volta (1978)	8	56	25	8	23	80	73	+7	83	1.48	CAF
Hong Kong	12	73	23	14	36	91	128	−37	83	1.14	AFC
Cuba	12	68	20	20	28	85	102	−17	80	1.18	CONCACAF
Zimbabwe (1982—)  Rhodesia (1970)	10	61	21	16	24	62	75	−13	79	1.30	CAF
Togo	10	63	21	14	28	68	86	−18	77	1.22	CAF
East Germany	9	47	22	8	17	87	65	+22	74	1.57	defunct
Congo	9	58	21	11	26	66	74	−8	74	1.28	CAF
Indonesia	12	71	19	16	36	87	143	−56	73	1.03	AFC
Libya	10	52	20	12	20	59	57	+2	72	1.38	CAF
Lebanon	7	56	19	14	23	87	77	+10	71	1.27	AFC
Suriname (1978—)  Dutch Guyana (1962–1974)	14	65	19	14	32	91	111	−20	71	1.09	CONCACAF
Gabon	8	53	20	10	23	55	58	−3	70	1.32	CAF
Fiji	9	49	20	9	20	108	90	+18	69	1.41	OFC
Latvia	8	69	18	14	37	77	120	−43	68	0.99	UEFA
Singapore	11	68	19	10	39	74	121	−47	67	0.99	AFC
Lithuania	9	67	17	15	35	57	98	−41	66	0.99	UEFA
Solomon Islands	7	50	19	8	23	104	100	+4	65	1.30	OFC
Malaysia	12	59	16	14	29	69	111	−42	62	1.05	AFC
Sudan	12	64	15	17	32	56	101	−45	62	0.97	CAF
Albania	12	98	16	13	69	66	181	−115	61	0.62	UEFA
New Caledonia	4	33	17	7	9	83	33	+50	58	1.76	OFC
Malawi	10	58	14	16	28	56	83	−27	58	1.00	CAF
Liberia	9	58	15	12	31	39	84	−45	57	0.98	CAF
Curaçao (2014—)  Netherlands Antilles (1962–2010)  Territory of Curaçao (1958)	16	60	13	18	29	53	116	−63	57	0.95	CONCACAF
Turkmenistan	6	40	17	5	18	64	59	+5	56	1.40	AFC
Tahiti	7	41	16	8	17	60	78	−18	56	1.37	OFC
Bermuda	7	36	15	9	12	76	46	+30	54	1.50	CONCACAF
Estonia	9	70	14	9	47	57	162	−105	51	0.73	UEFA
Cyprus	15	108	13	12	83	81	289	−208	51	0.47	UEFA
Mali	5	36	14	8	14	50	46	+4	50	1.39	CAF
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	7	58	14	8	36	77	170	−93	50	0.86	CONCACAF
Uganda	9	38	14	7	17	39	55	−16	49	1.29	CAF
Belarus	6	52	12	12	28	57	82	−25	48	0.92	UEFA
Yemen (1994—)  North Yemen (1986–1990)	9	50	12	11	27	52	80	−28	47	0.94	AFC
Tajikistan	6	36	13	7	16	63	55	+8	46	1.28	AFC
Benin (1986—)  Dahomey (1974)	8	44	13	7	24	46	89	−43	46	1.05	CAF
Kazakhstan	6	54	12	10	32	68	113	−45	46	0.85	UEFA
Madagascar	9	36	12	8	16	45	51	−6	44	1.22	CAF
Antigua and Barbuda	10	42	13	5	24	66	93	−27	44	1.05	CONCACAF
Macedonia	6	54	11	10	33	60	98	−38	43	0.80	UEFA
Sierra Leone	10	45	11	9	25	39	69	−30	42	0.93	CAF
Saint Kitts and Nevis	6	30	11	8	11	64	54	+10	41	1.37	CONCACAF
India	8	43	10	11	22	43	87	−44	41	0.95	AFC
Kyrgyzstan	6	31	12	4	15	38	49	−11	40	1.29	AFC
Ethiopia	11	41	10	10	21	47	65	−18	40	0.98	CAF
Georgia	6	50	9	13	28	46	80	−34	40	0.80	UEFA
Armenia	6	56	9	13	34	46	106	−60	40	0.71	UEFA
Vanuatu	7	37	12	3	22	76	89	−13	39	1.05	OFC
Cape Verde	5	30	11	3	16	30	38	−8	36	1.20	CAF
Vietnam (1994—)  South Vietnam (1974)	8	41	11	3	27	43	81	−38	36	0.88	AFC
Namibia	7	42	9	9	24	37	82	−45	36	0.86	CAF
Dominican Republic	8	29	10	5	14	42	50	−8	35	1.21	CONCACAF
Botswana	6	34	10	5	19	33	52	−19	35	1.03	CAF
Barbados	8	37	10	4	23	35	73	−38	34	0.92	CONCACAF
Mozambique	8	34	8	8	18	30	50	−20	32	0.94	CAF
Niger	7	30	9	5	16	27	48	−21	32	1.07	CAF
Azerbaijan	6	52	6	14	32	21	89	−68	32	0.62	UEFA
Bangladesh	9	48	9	5	34	33	122	−89	32	0.67	AFC
Palestine	5	26	8	7	11	46	37	+9	31	1.19	AFC
Montenegro	3	24	7	10	7	36	35	+1	31	1.29	UEFA
Tanzania	9	33	7	10	16	35	50	−15	31	0.94	CAF
Samoa (2002—)  Western Samoa (1998)	6	26	9	1	16	37	88	−51	28	1.08	OFC
Belize	6	26	7	6	13	32	54	−22	27	1.04	CONCACAF
Rwanda	6	36	6	9	21	29	54	−25	27	0.75	CAF
Guyana	10	34	7	6	21	36	81	−45	27	0.79	CONCACAF
Moldova	6	52	5	11	36	33	103	−70	26	0.50	UEFA
Papua New Guinea	4	18	6	6	6	37	27	+10	24	1.33	OFC
Grenada	7	25	7	3	15	49	54	−5	24	0.96	CONCACAF
Burundi	6	20	7	3	10	17	26	−9	24	1.20	CAF
Gambia	8	24	6	6	12	20	36	−16	24	1.00	CAF
Maldives	6	32	7	2	23	36	120	−84	23	0.72	AFC
Faroe Islands	7	64	6	5	53	32	176	−144	23	0.36	UEFA
Nicaragua	7	22	7	1	14	25	44	−19	22	1.00	CONCACAF
Saint Lucia	7	24	7	1	16	32	62	−30	22	0.92	CONCACAF
Tonga	6	22	7	1	14	23	82	−59	22	1.00	OFC
Chinese Taipei	11	58	6	4	48	35	200	−165	22	0.38	AFC
Puerto Rico	9	25	5	6	14	22	55	−33	21	0.84	CONCACAF
Luxembourg	20	128	4	8	116	66	416	−350	20	0.16	UEFA
Chad	5	16	6	1	9	15	23	−8	19	1.19	CAF
Swaziland	7	19	4	4	11	15	39	−24	16	0.84	CAF
Nepal	7	30	4	4	22	23	100	−77	16	0.53	AFC
Bahamas	5	14	4	3	7	20	43	−23	15	1.07	CONCACAF
Philippines	4	21	4	3	14	16	57	−41	15	0.71	AFC
Sri Lanka	7	31	3	6	22	21	75	−54	15	0.48	AFC
Malta	12	96	2	9	85	31	285	−254	15	0.16	UEFA
Equatorial Guinea	5	20	4	2	14	17	36	−19	14	0.70	CAF
Lesotho	7	24	2	8	14	14	51	−37	14	0.58	CAF
Aruba	6	16	4	1	11	23	42	−19	13	0.81	CONCACAF
Dominica	6	20	3	4	13	15	54	−39	13	0.65	CONCACAF
Laos	4	26	3	3	20	23	124	−101	12	0.46	AFC
Liechtenstein	6	54	2	6	46	23	162	−139	12	0.22	UEFA
Myanmar	3	14	3	2	9	11	38	−27	11	0.79	AFC
Macau	9	35	3	2	30	15	165	−150	11	0.31	AFC
Afghanistan	4	14	3	1	10	10	45	−35	10	0.71	AFC
Cook Islands	6	20	3	1	16	16	63	−47	10	0.50	OFC
American Samoa	5	18	3	1	14	11	136	−125	10	0.56	OFC
Mauritania	6	16	2	3	11	13	31	−18	9	0.56	CAF
U.S. Virgin Islands	5	15	3	0	12	8	80	−72	9	0.60	CONCACAF
Cambodia	5	26	2	3	21	16	90	−74	9	0.35	AFC
Timor-Leste	3	14	2	2	10	11	55	−44	8	0.57	AFC
Guinea-Bissau	6	12	1	4	7	8	19	−11	7	0.58	CAF
São Tomé and Príncipe	4	8	2	1	5	4	22	−18	7	0.88	CAF
Guam	2	10	2	1	7	3	51	−48	7	0.70	AFC
Mauritius	7	18	1	3	14	14	49	−35	6	0.33	CAF
Bhutan	1	10	2	0	8	8	53	−45	6	0.60	AFC
Cayman Islands	6	16	0	5	11	6	35	−29	5	0.31	CONCACAF
Andorra	5	46	1	2	43	13	152	−139	5	0.11	UEFA
Saar	1	4	1	1	2	4	8	−4	4	1.00	defunct
Central African Republic	3	10	1	1	8	8	21	−13	4	0.40	CAF
Mongolia	5	14	1	1	12	6	51	−45	4	0.29	AFC
Djibouti	4	13	1	1	11	6	56	−50	4	0.31	CAF
Pakistan	8	30	0	4	26	12	118	−106	4	0.13	AFC
Eritrea	4	8	0	3	5	3	16	−13	3	0.38	CAF
Comoros	3	8	0	3	5	4	18	−14	3	0.38	CAF
Somalia	6	11	0	3	8	1	26	−25	3	0.27	CAF
British Virgin Islands	5	10	0	3	7	7	34	−27	3	0.30	CONCACAF
Turks and Caicos Islands	5	10	1	0	9	6	46	−40	3	0.30	CONCACAF
Brunei	3	14	1	0	13	3	59	−56	3	0.21	AFC
Seychelles	5	14	0	2	12	6	36	−30	2	0.14	CAF
San Marino	7	60	0	2	58	10	276	−266	2	0.03	UEFA
South Yemen	1	2	0	1	1	4	7	−3	1	0.50	defunct
South Sudan	1	2	0	1	1	1	5	−4	1	0.50	CAF
Kosovo	1	4	0	1	3	1	12	−11	1	0.25	UEFA
Tuvalu	1	4	0	1	3	2	22	−20	1	0.25	OFC
Montserrat	5	9	0	1	8	8	45	−37	1	0.11	CONCACAF
Anguilla	5	10	0	1	9	2	41	−39	1	0.10	CONCACAF
Gibraltar	1	4	0	0	4	2	17	−15	0	0.00	UEFA

Footnotes

1. Only qualifying campaigns are counted where the team played at least one match that was not annulled.
2. The three points for a win system is used. These columns exist for comparison purposes only, and do not represent any official rankings.

Top scorers in preliminary competition (1934–2018)

Players in bold are still active.

#	Nation	Player	Goals	Games played	Goal ratio	Qualification tournaments
1		Carlos Ruiz	39	47	0.75	2002 (8 goals), 2006 (10), 2010 (6), 2014 (6), 2018 (9)
2		Ali Daei	35	50	0.70	1994 (7 goals), 1998 (9), 2002 (10), 2006 (9)
3		Karim Bagheri	28	29	0.97	1998 (19 goals), 2002 (8), 2010 (1)
4		Kazu Miura	27	25	1.08	1994 (13 goals), 1998 (14)
5		Andriy Shevchenko	26	40	0.65	1998 (4 goals), 2002 (10), 2006 (6), 2010 (6)
6		Carlos Pavón	25	37	0.68	1998 (2 goals), 2002 (15), 2006 (1), 2010 (7)
7		Jared Borgetti	23	24	0.96	2002 (6 goals), 2006 (14), 2010 (3)
8		Tim Cahill	23	x	x	x
9		Edin Džeko	22	25	0.86	2010 (9 goals), 2014 (10), 2018 (3)
10		Cristiano Ronaldo	22	x	x	x
11		Paulo Wanchope	21	37	0.57	1998 (6 goals), 2002 (7), 2006 (8)
12		Stern John	20	49	0.41	1998 (3 goals), 2002 (3), 2006 (12), 2010 (2)
13		Archie Thompson	20	15	1.33	2002 (16 goals), 2006 (2), 2014 (2)
14		Vaughan Coveny	19	19	1.00	1998 (4 goals), 2002 (9), 2006 (6)
15		Emmanuel Sanon	19	20	0.95	1974 (11 goals), 1978 (8)
16		Pauleta	19	24	0.79	2002 (8 goals), 2006 (11)
17		Zlatan Ibrahimović	19	29	0.66	2002 (1 goal), 2006 (8), 2010 (2), 2014 (8)
18		Hernán Crespo	19	33	0.58	1998 (3 goals), 2002 (9), 2006 (7)
19		Luis Suárez	19	x	x	x
20		Didier Drogba	18	19	0.95	2006 (9 goals), 2010 (6), 2014 (3)
21		Moumouni Dagano	18	24	0.60	2002 (1 goal), 2006 (5), 2010 (12)
22		Samuel Eto'o	18	29	0.62	2002 (3 goals), 2006 (4), 2010 (9), 2014 (2)
23		Raúl Díaz Arce	18	29	0.62	1994 (2 goals), 1998 (9), 2002 (7)
24		Marcelo Salas	18	32	0.56	1998 (11 goals), 2002 (4), 2006 (1), 2010 (2)
25		Robbie Keane	18	37	0.49	2002 (2 goals), 2006 (4), 2010 (6), 2014 (6)
26		Álvaro Saborío	17	x	x	x
27		Steve David	17	x	x	x
28		Iván Zamorano	17	11	1.54	1990 (1 goal), 1998 (12), 2002 (4)
29		Dimitar Berbatov	17	12	1.42	2002 (6 goals), 2006 (8), 2010 (5)
30		Alexander Frei	17	14	1.21	2002 (5 goals), 2006 (7), 2010 (5)
31		Deon McCaulay	17	16	1.06	2010 (2 goals), 2014 (11), 2018 (4)

(update of FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers in progress, last update: 14 November 2016)

Current format

Current, 32 places are available in the final tournament. One of them is reserved for the host nation, but if two or more nations host the competition jointly, each is awarded a place. From 1934 to 2002, one berth was reserved for the winners of the previous World Cup. In November 2001, FIFA announced that the defending champion would no longer get automatic entry to the subsequent tournament, starting with the 2006 finals. This decision was made to address the issue of the returning champions being at a disadvantage to their fellow competitors due to having not played a competitive match in the previous two years.^[3] The problem was amply demonstrated at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, as returning champions France tumbled out in the first round, finishing bottom of their group without scoring a single goal. 2002 winner Brazil qualified for 2006 at the top of their qualifiers group. However, Italy, defending champions from 2006, finished bottom of their group in 2010, despite playing in the qualifying matches. At Brazil 2014, 2010 champions Spain finished third in their group and failed to advance to the Round of 16, despite having qualified as first in their group.

FIFA decides beforehand the number of spots awarded to each of the continental zones. For the 2018 World Cup, the following numbers are being used:^[4]

• UEFA (Europe) – 13 berths, plus the host Russia
• CAF (Africa) – 5 berths
• AFC (Asia) – 4 berths
• CONMEBOL (South America) – 4 berths
• CONCACAF (North and Central America and Caribbean) – 3 berths
• 2 berths for the winners of intercontinental play-offs between the best team from the OFC (Oceania), as well as additional teams from the AFC, CONMEBOL and CONCACAF. The pairings for these play-offs will be determined by an open draw.

The number of berths allocated per continent is widely debated, with the main point of contention being the extent to which berths should be allocated to regions based on sheer population vs. talent. A historically weaker continent, Africa has called for more places, as they are allocated only 5 in comparison to Europe's 13.^[5] In early October 2016, it was announced that the World Cup may feature 40 teams starting with the 2026 tournament,^[6] then FIFA President Gianni Infantino stated his support for a 48-team World Cup,^[7] mainly to address African concerns. For the expanded finals, the number of teams for each continent and one of four options to be chosen will be tackled in January 2017.^[8] The new format for the qualifying process has yet to be confirmed.

These numbers vary slightly between tournaments (see above).

Qualification in all zones ends at approximately the same time, in September–November of the year preceding the finals.

The formats of the qualification tournaments differ between confederations and over time. The systems being used in 2018 are outlined below.

Africa

The CAF qualification process began with two preliminary rounds (to narrow the field of 53 entrants to 20 teams) in October 2015. Zimbabwe were disqualified and therefore ineligible.

The group stage consisted of 5 groups of 4, with the group winners advancing to the World Cup finals.

Asia

Bhutan and Guam entered the AFC qualification process, while Indonesia were suspended and therefore ineligible.

Qualifying was altered significantly from the 2014 method, with changes to the structure of the preliminary rounds – which were held before the main draw. One home-and-away preliminary round reduced the 12 entrants to 6, followed by a first group stage with the 6 first round winners joining the top sides and 4 best runners-up from 5 groups of 5 advancing to a final group stage. The winners and runners-up of the two final groups of 5 advanced to the World Cup finals with the two third-placed sides playing off in the fourth round for the right to play in an inter-confederation play-off for a final World Cup spot. The first two rounds also acted as the qualifiers for the expanded 2019 AFC Asian Cup.^[9]

A total of 24 teams eliminated from World Cup qualification in the second round compete in the third round of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification (which is separate from the third round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification), where they are divided into six groups of four teams and compete for the remaining slots of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. The 24 teams consist of the 16 highest ranked teams eliminated in the second round, and the eight teams that advance from the play-off round of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification which are contested by the remaining 12 teams eliminated in the second round.^[10]

Europe

The European qualification is unchanged from the 2014 system. The 52 national teams were divided into nine groups (seven groups of six teams and two groups of five teams), with the group winners qualifying directly to the finals, and the best eight runners-up playing home-and-away ties for the remaining four places.^[11]

With the admission of Gibraltar and Kosovo as FIFA members in May 2016, both national teams made their debuts in World Cup qualifying.^[12] With two groups of only five teams in the first round, Kosovo was assigned to group I as it was decided that Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia should not play against Kosovo for security reasons, and Gibraltar was then added to group H.^[13][14]

North and Central America and Caribbean

The 2018 CONCACAF qualification process has changed significantly from the 2014 qualification cycle. The first three rounds have teams play home-and-away over two legs. A first preliminary round involved the 14 lowest ranked teams and the seven winners advanced to the second round. The 13 higher ranked sides received byes in the second round and were joined by the seven first round winners; the ten winners advanced to the third round. Two higher ranked teams received byes in the third round and were joined by ten second round winners; the six winners advanced to the preliminary group stage.

As in 2014, the remaining 12 teams play in 3 semifinal groups of 4 teams with the top two in each group advancing to a final six-team group.

The final round – often referred to as the "hexagonal" because there are six teams involved – will see the top three teams advance to the World Cup finals, while the fourth placed side will enter an inter-confederation play-off for a final World Cup spot.

Oceania

Qualification in Oceania was held as part of a further competition. The first stage took place with one group of four lowest ranked teams and the winner advanced to the second stage (which also acted as the 2016 OFC Nations Cup). In the second stage the top three teams advanced to the third round, among them Nations Cup champions New Zealand. Two groups of three teams contest the third round, or final group stage, and the winners of each group will enter a two-leg final. The winners of this final advance to an inter-confederation play-off for a World Cup spot.

South America

As in recent qualification series CONMEBOL qualification consists of a single group of all entrants. Unlike previous qualifying tournaments where the fixtures were pre-determined, the fixtures were determined by a draw, which was held as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Preliminary Draw, on 25 July 2015.^[15]

The top 4 teams from the 10-team group will advance to the World Cup finals, while the fifth placed team will enter an inter-confederation play-off for a World Cup spot.

Intercontinental play-offs

Like the previous 2014 tournament, the pairings for the two play-offs were determined by an open draw on 25 July 2015, as part of the aforementioned preliminary draw. Intercontinental play-offs are played as home-and-away ties.

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

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 the drawing of lot.

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, the second round of UEFA qualifying 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

• National team appearances in the FIFA World Cup
• UEFA European Championship qualifying

References

1. "History of the FIFA World Cup preliminary competition (by year)" (PDF). fifa.com. FIFA. November 2009.
2. "FIFA's 209 member associations" (PDF). fifa.com. FIFA. July 2012.
3. "Fifa makes major policy shift". BBC News. 30 November 2001.
4. "Current allocation of FIFA World Cup confederation slots maintained" (Press release). FIFA. 30 May 2015.
5. "Africa calls for FIFA to increase World Cup places". Ahram Online. Reuters. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
6. "New Fifa chief backs 48-team World Cup". heraldlive. 7 October 2016. It’s an idea, just as the World Cup with 40 teams is already on the table with groups of four or five teams.
7. "World Cup could expand to 48 teams, Fifa's Gianni Infantino suggests". The Guardian. 3 October 2016.
8. "World Cup: Europe barred by Fifa from bidding for 2026 tournament". BBC. 14 October 2016.
9. "ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals". AFC. 16 April 2014.
10. "World Cup draw looms large in Asia". FIFA.com. 13 April 2015. Completing the tournament's qualifying contenders will be the next 16 highest ranked teams, with the remaining 12 sides battling it out in play-off matches to claim the last eight spots.
11. "Uefa retains 2010 World Cup qualifying format for 2014". bbc.co.uk. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
12. "FIFA Congress drives football forward, first female secretary general appointed". FIFA.com. 13 May 2016.
13. "Kosovo to play in Group I in European Qualifiers". uefa.org. Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). 9 June 2016.
14. "Kosovo and Gibraltar assigned to 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying groups". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). 9 June 2016.
15. "A unanimous decision: A draw will determine the classifications for the World Cup and CONMEBOL Tournaments". CONMEBOL.com. 23 January 2015.

External links

• FIFA World Cup Preliminary Competition Statistics (from FIFA.com)
• FIFA World Cup Preliminary History (from FIFA.com)
• FIFA World Cup 2018 Regulations