How France, Portugal, And Spain Can Qualify For FIFA World Cup 2026

16 European spots will be up for grabs when the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers resume this week. France, Spain and Portugal remain very close to securing their place in the World Cup finals. Lamine Yamal's side has maintained a perfect record in the Qualifiers, while Kylian Mbappe's France and Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal too, haven't lost a match till now.

How France, Portugal And Spain Can Qualify For FIFA World Cup

France will kick off the international break with a tricky fixture against Ukraine, and a win will seal a place in the World Cup finals. The French Football Federation will also pay tribute to the victims of the heinous Paris attack, which unfolded in Paris 10 years ago. Les Blues will take on Azerbaijan, and Mbappe's side can also top the group with two successive draws.

Ronaldo's side needs two more points to qualify for the World Cup, which could be his 6th FIFA World Cup. Ronaldo has been in red-hot form and is on the verge of breaking Lothar Matthäus' record, who played at three for West Germany and two with reunified Germany from 1982-98.

Spain can confirm their place in the World Cup with two wins against Georgia and Turkey.

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Playoffs Format For World Cup Qualifying

Italy could miss out on a direct qualification spot as they stand second in Group I, just three points behind Norway. Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has been instrumental for Norway, having scored 12 out of 29 goals during the fluent qualifying campaign.

The runners-up will advance to the playoffs alongside the four best-ranked Nations League group winners who finished third or worse in World Cup qualifying groups. Four groups will be formed of four teams each, single-game semifinals and finals will decide the next course of action between March 26-31 next year.

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