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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 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 most recent qualification process was the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification which commenced in 2015 and finished in 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 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 as per the case of Oceania prior to 1966 and Africa in 1938-1954 and 1966, this does not indicate an exclusion of those continents by FIFA, but rather that no country from those continents made an entry to the aforementioned Cups.^[1]

It should be noted that a large part of Africa was under European colonial rule for the majority of the 20th century. Consequently, only three African countries were affiliated to FIFA in 1954: Egypt (since 1923), Sudan (since 1948) and Ethiopia (since 1952).^[2] Egypt entered the 1934, 1938 and 1954 Cups, but not the 1930 or 1950 Cups, while Sudan and Ethiopia did not enter the Cup until 1958. Though an African country, Egypt entered in 1938 and 1954 in the European group, and therefore the table below gives no data about Africa for these two Cups.

Places in the intercontinental play-offs count as 0.5 spots, and numbers in bold represent the winners of the intercontinental play-offs. "+C" denotes an additional spot for defending champions (1938-2002), and "+H" denotes an additional spot for host nations (from 1938).

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)7	2010 (32)	2014 (32)	2018 (32)	2022 (32)	2026 (48)
Europe	12	111 +C+H	72 +C	11 +H	9.53 +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	13	16
Africa	1		0		0.53	0.54	05	1	1	1	2	2	2	3	5	5	5	5 +H	5	5	5	9
Asia		1	12	1		0.54	15	1	1	1	2	2	2	2	3.5	2.5 +2H	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5 +H	8
Oceania	did not exist											0.5	0.5	0.256	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.5	1
North and Central America and Caribbean	1	1	2	1	1	0.5	1	1 +H	1	1	2	1 +H	2	1.256 +H	3	3	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	6
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	3.56	4 +C	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5 +H	4.5	4.5	6
Play-off tournament	did not exist																					2
Total	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	16	24	24	24	24	32	32	32	32	32	32	32	48

¹ In 1938, Austria withdrew after qualifying after 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 1966, Africa and Asia were given one place, contested between the winner of a four team Asian tournament and three group winners from the second round of African qualifiers. All 15 African teams subsequently withdrew to protest FIFA's failure to allocate a place to an African team, leaving North Korea to qualify.

⁶ 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.

⁷ 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. Although Egypt, an African country, entered qualifying in 1938 and 1954, it was in the European group; thus, the number of teams for Africa is considered to be zero 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)	2026 (48)
Europe	21	26	19	29	29	30	33	31	33	32	34	33	33	39	50	51	52	53	53	54
Africa	3		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
Oceania1	0	0	0	0	0	0						4	5	7	10	10	12	11	11	11
North and Central America and Caribbean2	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	2054	204	210
Teams played3	27	21	19	33	46	49	51	68	90	95	103	110	103	130	168	193	194	2004	203	208
Matches played	27	22	26	57	89	92	127	172	226	252	306	308	314	497	643	777	847	853	828	872
Goals scored	141	96	121	208	341	325	393	542	620	723	797	801	735	1446	1922	2452	2464	2344	2303	2454
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	2.81

• 
  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 determined 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. Teams that succeeded in their first qualification attempt are in bold. Teams that have never qualified for the World Cup finals are in italic.

World Cup	Europe	South America	North, Central America and Caribbean	Asia	Africa	Oceania	T	CT
1934	Austria  Belgium  Bulgaria  Czechoslovakia[A]  Estonia  France  Germany[B]  Greece  Hungary  Irish Free State[C]  Italy[D]  Lithuania  Luxembourg  Netherlands  Poland  Portugal  Romania  Spain  Sweden   Switzerland  Yugoslavia[E]	none	Cuba  Haiti  Mexico  United States	Palestine, British Mandate[F]	Egypt[G]	none	27	27
1938	Finland  Latvia  Norway	none	none	none	none	none	3	30
1950	England  Ireland[H]  Scotland  Turkey[I]  Wales	none	none	Syria	none	none	6	36
1954	Saar	Brazil[J]  Chile[K]  Paraguay[L]	none	Japan[M]  South Korea	none	none	6	42
1958	Denmark  East Germany  Iceland  Soviet Union[N]	Argentina[O]  Bolivia[P]  Colombia[Q]  Peru[R]  Uruguay[S]	Canada  Costa Rica[T]  Guatemala  Territory of Curaçao[U]	China PR  Indonesia[V]	Sudan	none	16	58
1962	Cyprus[W]	Ecuador[X]	Dutch Guyana[Y]  Honduras	none	Ethiopia  Ghana  Morocco  Nigeria  Tunisia	none	9	67
1966	Albania	Venezuela[Z]	Jamaica  Trinidad and Tobago	North Korea	none	Australia	6	73
1970	none	none	Bermuda  El Salvador[AA]	none	Algeria[AB]  Cameroon[AC]  Libya[AD]  Rhodesia[AE]  Senegal[AF]  Zambia	New Zealand	9	82
1974	Malta	none	Antigua and Barbuda  Puerto Rico	Hong Kong  Iran  Iraq  Kuwait  Malaysia  South Vietnam[AG]  Thailand	Congo  Dahomey[AH]  Guinea[AI]  Ivory Coast  Kenya  Lesotho  Mauritius  Sierra Leone  Tanzania  Togo  Zaire[AJ]	none	21	103
1978	none	none	Barbados  Dominican Republic  Guyana  Panama	Bahrain  Qatar  Republic of China[AK]  Saudi Arabia  Singapore	Malawi  Mauritania  Niger  Uganda  Upper Volta[AL]	none	14	117
1982	none	none	Grenada	Macau	Gambia  Liberia[AM]  Madagascar[AN]  Mozambique  Somalia	Fiji	8	125
1986	none	none	none	Bangladesh  Brunei  Jordan  India[AO]    Nepal  North Yemen[AP]  South Yemen  United Arab Emirates[AQ]	Angola	none	9	134
1990	none	none	none	Oman[AR]  Pakistan	Gabon[AS]	none	3	137
1994	Faroe Islands  San Marino	none	Nicaragua  Saint Lucia  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Lebanon[AT]  Sri Lanka[AU]	Botswana  Burundi  Namibia  South Africa  Swaziland[AV]	Solomon Islands  Tahiti  Vanuatu	15	152
1998	Armenia  Azerbaijan  Belarus  Bosnia and Herzegovina  Croatia  Georgia  Liechtenstein[AW]  Macedonia  Moldova  Slovakia  Slovenia  Ukraine	none	Aruba  Belize  Cayman Islands  Dominica  Saint Kitts and Nevis	Cambodia  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan  Maldives[AX]  Philippines[AY]  Tajikistan  Turkmenistan  Uzbekistan	Guinea-Bissau  Rwanda[AZ]	Cook Islands  Papua New Guinea  Tonga  Western Samoa[BA]	31	183
2002	Andorra	none	Anguilla  Bahamas[BB]  British Virgin Islands  Montserrat  Turks and Caicos Islands  U.S. Virgin Islands	Guam  Laos  Mongolia  Palestine	Cape Verde  Central African Republic[BC]  Chad  Djibouti  Equatorial Guinea  Eritrea  Mali[BD]  São Tomé and Príncipe[BE]  Seychelles	American Samoa	21	204
2006	none	none	none	Afghanistan	none	New Caledonia	2	206
2010	Montenegro	none	none	Myanmar[BF]  Timor-Leste	Comoros	Tuvalu[BG]	5	211
2014	none	none	none	none	none	none	0	211
2018	Gibraltar  Kosovo	none	none	Bhutan[BH]	South Sudan	none	4	215

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 and 1978 qualifications, but on both occasions withdrew before playing any matches.
    


48. 
    ^ Swaziland was renamed as  Eswatini during the 2022 qualification.
    


49. 
    ^ Liechtenstein entered the 1994 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
    


50. 
    ^ The Maldives entered the 1990 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
    


51. 
    ^ The Philippines entered the 1950 and 1974 qualifications, but on both occasions withdrew before playing any matches.
    


52. 
    ^ Rwanda entered the 1990 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
    


53. 
    ^ Western Samoa entered the 1994 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches. It was later renamed as  Samoa (first appearance: 2002).
    


54. 
    ^ The Bahamas entered the 1998 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
    


55. 
    ^ 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.
    


56. 
    ^ Mali entered the 1966, 1994 and 1998 qualifications, but on all three occasions withdrew before playing any matches.
    


57. 
    ^ São Tomé and Príncipe entered the 1994 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
    


58. 
    ^ Myanmar entered the 1950 (as  Burma), 1994 and 2002 qualifications, but on all three occasions withdrew before playing any matches.
    


59. 
    ^ 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.
    


60. 
    ^ Bhutan entered the 2010 qualification, but withdrew before playing any matches.
    

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 as Dutch East Indies)
Team has qualified for the main tournament by walkover but hasn't participated there because it withdrew (India)
Team hasn't qualified for the main tournament but is assured of an automatic spot in 2022 as host (Qatar)
Team hasn't qualified for the main tournament
Defunct team that has qualified for the main tournament (East Germany)
Defunct team that never 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)

Up to and including the 2018 qualification.

No.[n 1]	Team	App's[n 2]	Overall qualification record							Points[n 3]		Confederation
			Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Total	Avg
1	Mexico	19	175	113	37	25	436	126	+310	376	2.149	CONCACAF
2	Costa Rica	16	172	85	43	44	295	176	+119	298	1.733	CONCACAF
3	Australia	14	141	82	36	23	362	113	+249	282	2.000	AFC
4	South Korea	14	135	82	36	17	264	86	+178	282	2.089	AFC
5	Netherlands	18	125	82	24	19	296	93	+203	270	2.160	UEFA
6	Spain	18	117	81	25	11	276	76	+200	268	2.291	UEFA
7	Iran	10	128	78	34	16	267	81	+186	268	2.094	AFC
8	United States	18	154	77	36	41	266	181	+85	267	1.734	CONCACAF
9	Sweden	19	131	80	21	30	267	121	+146	261	1.992	UEFA
10	Portugal	20	139	76	33	30	262	139	+123	261	1.878	UEFA
11	Argentina	13	136	75	36	25	235	127	+108	261	1.919	CONMEBOL
12	Serbia (2010–)  Serbia and Montenegro (2006)  FR Yugoslavia (1998–2002)  SFR Yugoslavia (1950–1990)  Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1934–1938)	19	128	75	31	22	269	114	+155	256	2.000	UEFA
13	Belgium	19	133	77	25	31	277	141	+136	256	1.925	UEFA
14	Czech Republic (1998–)  Representation of Czechs and Slovaks (1994)  Czechoslovakia (1934–1994)	19	138	75	29	34	266	116	+150	254	1.841	UEFA
15	England	16	112	76	25	11	275	67	+208	253	2.259	UEFA
16	Uruguay	16	154	69	42	43	218	164	+54	249	1.617	CONMEBOL
17	Italy	16	109	74	26	9	221	69	+152	248	2.275	UEFA
18	Honduras	14	150	69	40	41	255	173	+82	247	1.647	CONCACAF
19	Russia (1994–)  Soviet Union (1958–1990)	15	115	73	23	19	227	75	+152	242	2.104	UEFA
20	Germany (1994–)  West Germany (1954–1990)  Germany (1934–1938)	14	94	74	18	2	292	70	+222	240	2.553	UEFA
21	Brazil	12	110	68	30	12	240	70	+170	234	2.127	CONMEBOL
22	Saudi Arabia	11	118	68	28	22	232	93	+139	232	1.966	AFC
23	Japan	14	120	68	26	26	247	85	+162	230	1.917	AFC
24	Paraguay	17	154	66	30	58	201	189	+12	228	1.481	CONMEBOL
25	Romania	17	128	67	26	35	223	134	+89	227	1.773	UEFA
26	Switzerland	19	132	64	33	35	205	146	+59	225	1.705	UEFA
27	France	17	111	65	23	23	216	88	+128	218	1.964	UEFA
28	El Salvador	13	140	63	28	49	233	168	+65	217	1.550	CONCACAF
29	Colombia	16	152	57	46	49	180	159	+21	217	1.428	CONMEBOL
30	China PR	11	108	66	16	26	230	74	+156	214	1.981	AFC
31	Scotland	18	125	62	28	35	192	136	+56	214	1.712	UEFA
32	Chile	15	146	61	29	56	217	195	+22	212	1.452	CONMEBOL
33	Republic of Ireland (1954–)  Ireland (1950)  Irish Free State (1934–1938)	20	141	56	43	42	199	169	+30	211	1.496	UEFA
34	Bulgaria	19	129	60	27	42	209	177	+32	207	1.605	UEFA
35	Austria	18	123	59	28	36	212	136	+76	205	1.667	UEFA
36	Denmark	15	122	58	30	34	212	141	+71	204	1.672	UEFA
37	Nigeria	14	104	58	29	17	175	80	+95	203	1.952	CAF
38	Poland	18	117	60	21	36	228	143	+85	201	1.718	UEFA
39	Hungary	18	122	58	26	38	216	163	+53	200	1.639	UEFA
40	Tunisia	14	104	57	28	19	180	84	+96	199	1.913	CAF
41	Trinidad and Tobago	14	137	55	27	55	201	183	+18	192	1.401	CONCACAF
42	Morocco	14	111	51	38	22	150	80	+70	191	1.721	CAF
43	Greece	19	128	54	29	45	159	171	−12	191	1.492	UEFA
44	Guatemala	15	122	49	31	42	194	150	+44	178	1.459	CONCACAF
45	Canada	14	117	48	34	35	161	136	+25	178	1.521	CONCACAF
46	New Zealand	13	96	53	18	25	221	99	+122	177	1.844	OFC
47	Cameroon	13	87	51	22	14	144	66	+78	175	2.011	CAF
48	Egypt	14	93	52	19	22	165	89	+76	175	1.882	CAF
49	Ecuador	15	143	47	33	63	169	202	−33	174	1.217	CONMEBOL
50	Qatar	11	112	50	22	40	181	121	+60	172	1.536	AFC
51	Iraq	11	101	48	24	29	201	103	+98	168	1.663	AFC
52	Uzbekistan	6	94	49	19	26	177	95	+82	166	1.766	AFC
53	Peru	16	149	43	37	69	164	211	−47	166	1.114	CONMEBOL
54	Turkey	17	128	47	24	57	176	187	−11	165	1.289	UEFA
55	Northern Ireland (1954–)  Ireland (1950)	18	134	43	36	55	149	161	−12	165	1.231	UEFA
56	Norway	18	126	44	30	52	170	178	−8	162	1.286	UEFA
57	Kuwait	12	93	48	14	31	160	92	+68	158	1.699	AFC
58	Zambia	13	96	45	20	31	145	88	+57	155	1.615	CAF
59	Israel (1950–)  Palestine, British Mandate (1934–1938)	20	122	40	34	48	166	178	−12	154	1.262	UEFA
60	Ivory Coast	11	78	41	25	12	144	67	+77	148	1.897	CAF
61	United Arab Emirates	9	97	42	20	35	163	111	+52	146	1.505	AFC
62	Bolivia	16	150	39	29	82	177	284	−107	146	0.973	CONMEBOL
63	Algeria	13	89	40	23	26	126	91	+35	143	1.607	CAF
64	Ghana	13	83	40	22	21	132	66	+66	142	1.711	CAF
65	Jamaica	11	104	37	27	40	115	132	−17	138	1.327	CONCACAF
66	Wales	18	120	37	26	57	151	170	−19	137	1.142	UEFA
67	North Korea	10	83	39	19	25	116	77	+39	136	1.639	AFC
68	Haiti	14	90	39	17	34	152	120	+32	134	1.489	CONCACAF
69	Syria	14	84	36	20	28	174	97	+77	128	1.524	AFC
70	Ukraine	6	70	35	22	13	108	52	+56	127	1.814	UEFA
71	Croatia	6	62	36	18	8	108	47	+61	126	2.032	UEFA
72	DR Congo (1998–)  Zaire (1974–1998)	10	76	36	17	23	128	84	+44	125	1.645	CAF
73	Finland	19	129	32	23	74	134	287	−153	119	0.922	UEFA
74	Bahrain	10	88	31	25	32	105	94	+11	118	1.341	AFC
75	Guinea	12	75	35	10	30	114	97	+17	115	1.533	CAF
76	Slovakia	6	64	32	14	18	110	64	+46	110	1.719	UEFA
77	Oman	8	70	29	19	22	115	70	+45	106	1.514	AFC
78	Panama	11	94	27	22	45	104	157	−53	103	1.096	CONCACAF
79	Iceland	13	106	28	19	59	116	215	−99	103	0.972	UEFA
80	Senegal	12	63	26	22	15	90	56	+34	100	1.587	CAF
81	Venezuela	13	140	25	25	90	120	314	−194	100	0.714	CONMEBOL
82	Jordan	9	70	28	14	28	105	92	+13	98	1.400	AFC
83	Bosnia and Herzegovina	6	58	28	10	20	112	69	+43	94	1.621	UEFA
84	Angola	9	61	24	22	15	79	57	+22	94	1.541	CAF
85	South Africa	7	50	28	8	14	66	45	+21	92	1.840	CAF
86	Slovenia	6	62	25	15	22	81	68	+13	90	1.452	UEFA
87	Thailand	12	89	24	18	47	116	156	−40	90	1.011	AFC
88	Burkina Faso (1990–)  Upper Volta (1978)	8	60	26	10	24	87	78	+9	88	1.467	CAF
89	Kenya	12	68	23	16	29	77	91	−14	85	1.250	CAF
90	Hong Kong	12	73	23	14	36	91	128	−37	83	1.137	AFC
91	Cuba	12	68	20	20	28	85	102	−17	80	1.176	CONCACAF
92	Zimbabwe (1982–)  Rhodesia (1970)	10	61	21	16	24	62	75	−13	79	1.295	CAF
93	Togo	10	63	21	14	28	68	86	−18	77	1.222	CAF
94	Libya	10	56	21	13	22	63	62	+1	76	1.357	CAF
95	Congo	9	62	21	13	28	70	83	−13	76	1.226	CAF
96	East Germany	9	47	22	8	17	87	65	+22	74	1.574	defunct
97	Gabon	8	57	21	11	25	57	65	−8	74	1.298	CAF
98	Indonesia (1958–)  Dutch East Indies (1938)	12	71	19	16	36	87	143	−56	73	1.028	AFC
99	Solomon Islands	7	54	21	9	24	112	113	−1	72	1.333	OFC
100	Latvia	8	75	19	15	41	82	130	−48	72	0.960	UEFA
101	Lebanon	7	56	19	14	23	87	77	+10	71	1.268	AFC
102	Suriname (1978–)  Dutch Guyana (1962–1974)	14	65	19	14	32	91	111	−20	71	1.092	CONCACAF
103	Fiji	9	53	20	10	23	111	98	+13	70	1.321	OFC
104	Albania	12	104	18	14	72	72	188	−116	68	0.654	UEFA
105	Singapore	11	68	19	10	39	74	121	−47	67	0.985	AFC
106	Lithuania	9	73	17	16	40	59	111	−52	67	0.918	UEFA
107	Malaysia	12	59	17	13	29	73	110	−37	64	1.085	AFC
108	New Caledonia	4	35	18	8	9	87	36	+51	62	1.771	OFC
109	Sudan	12	64	15	17	32	56	101	−45	62	0.969	CAF
110	Tahiti	7	43	17	8	18	66	81	−15	59	1.372	OFC
111	Estonia	9	76	16	11	49	65	166	−101	59	0.776	UEFA
112	Malawi	10	58	14	16	28	56	83	−27	58	1.000	CAF
113	Cyprus	15	114	15	13	86	87	299	−212	58	0.509	UEFA
114	Liberia	9	58	15	12	31	39	84	−45	57	0.983	CAF
115	Curaçao (2014–)  Netherlands Antilles (1962–2010)  Territory of Curaçao (1958)	16	60	13	18	29	53	116	−63	57	0.950	CONCACAF
116	Turkmenistan	6	40	17	5	18	64	59	+5	56	1.400	AFC
117	Bermuda	7	36	15	9	12	76	46	+30	54	1.500	CONCACAF
118	Uganda	9	42	15	9	18	41	57	−16	54	1.286	CAF
119	Macedonia	6	60	14	12	34	71	102	−31	54	0.900	UEFA
120	Mali	5	40	14	11	15	50	52	−2	53	1.325	CAF
121	Belarus	6	58	13	12	33	61	97	−36	51	0.879	UEFA
122	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	7	58	14	8	36	77	170	−93	50	0.862	CONCACAF
123	Yemen (1994–)  North Yemen (1986–1990)	9	50	12	11	27	52	80	−28	47	0.940	AFC
124	Kazakhstan	6	60	12	11	37	71	128	−57	47	0.783	UEFA
125	Tajikistan	6	36	13	7	16	63	55	+8	46	1.278	AFC
126	Benin (1986–)  Dahomey (1974)	8	44	13	7	24	46	89	−43	46	1.045	CAF
127	Madagascar	9	36	12	8	16	45	51	−6	44	1.222	CAF
128	Antigua and Barbuda	10	42	13	5	24	66	93	−27	44	1.048	CONCACAF
129	Armenia	6	62	10	14	38	52	122	−70	44	0.710	UEFA
130	Georgia	6	56	9	16	31	51	89	−38	43	0.768	UEFA
131	Cape Verde	5	34	13	3	18	34	46	−12	42	1.235	CAF
132	Sierra Leone	10	45	11	9	25	39	69	−30	42	0.933	CAF
133	Saint Kitts and Nevis	6	30	11	8	11	64	54	+10	41	1.367	CONCACAF
134	India	8	43	10	11	22	43	87	−44	41	0.953	AFC
135	Montenegro	3	30	10	10	10	47	43	+4	40	1.333	UEFA
136	Kyrgyzstan	6	31	12	4	15	38	49	−11	40	1.290	AFC
137	Ethiopia	11	41	10	10	21	47	65	−18	40	0.976	CAF
138	Vanuatu	7	37	12	3	22	76	89	−13	39	1.054	OFC
139	Vietnam (1994–)  South Vietnam (1974)	8	41	11	3	27	43	81	−38	36	0.878	AFC
140	Namibia	7	42	9	9	24	37	82	−45	36	0.857	CAF
141	Dominican Republic	8	29	10	5	14	42	50	−8	35	1.207	CONCACAF
142	Botswana	6	34	10	5	19	33	52	−19	35	1.029	CAF
143	Azerbaijan	6	58	7	14	37	29	104	−75	35	0.603	UEFA
144	Barbados	8	37	10	4	23	35	73	−38	34	0.919	CONCACAF
145	Palestine	5	26	9	6	11	48	36	+12	33	1.269	AFC
146	Mozambique	8	34	8	8	18	30	50	−20	32	0.941	CAF
147	Niger	7	30	9	5	16	27	48	−21	32	1.067	CAF
148	Bangladesh	9	48	9	5	34	33	122	−89	32	0.667	AFC
149	Tanzania	9	33	7	10	16	35	50	−15	31	0.939	CAF
150	Samoa (2002–)  Western Samoa (1998)	6	26	9	1	16	37	88	−51	28	1.077	OFC
151	Faroe Islands	7	70	7	7	56	34	184	−150	28	0.400	UEFA
152	Papua New Guinea	4	22	7	6	9	43	36	+7	27	1.227	OFC
153	Belize	6	26	7	6	13	32	54	−22	27	1.038	CONCACAF
154	Rwanda	6	36	6	9	21	29	54	−25	27	0.750	CAF
155	Guyana	10	34	7	6	21	36	81	−45	27	0.794	CONCACAF
156	Moldova	6	58	5	12	41	35	115	−80	27	0.466	UEFA
157	Luxembourg	20	134	5	10	119	69	433	−364	25	0.187	UEFA
158	Grenada	7	25	7	3	15	49	54	−5	24	0.960	CONCACAF
159	Burundi	6	20	7	3	10	17	26	−9	24	1.200	CAF
160	Gambia	8	24	6	6	12	20	36	−16	24	1.000	CAF
161	Maldives	6	32	7	2	23	36	120	−84	23	0.719	AFC
162	Nicaragua	7	22	7	1	14	25	44	−19	22	1.000	CONCACAF
163	Saint Lucia	7	24	7	1	16	32	62	−30	22	0.917	CONCACAF
164	Tonga	6	22	7	1	14	23	82	−59	22	1.000	OFC
165	Chinese Taipei (1982–)  Republic of China (1978)	11	58	6	4	48	35	200	−165	22	0.379	AFC
166	Puerto Rico	9	25	5	6	14	22	55	−33	21	0.840	CONCACAF
167	Chad	5	16	6	1	9	15	23	−8	19	1.187	CAF
168	Eswatini (2022–)  Swaziland (1994–2018)	7	19	4	4	11	15	39	−24	16	0.842	CAF
169	Nepal	7	30	4	4	22	23	100	−77	16	0.533	AFC
170	Malta	12	102	2	10	90	33	300	−267	16	0.157	UEFA
171	Bahamas	5	14	4	3	7	20	43	−23	15	1.071	CONCACAF
172	Philippines	4	21	4	3	14	16	57	−41	15	0.714	AFC
173	Sri Lanka	7	31	3	6	22	21	75	−54	15	0.484	AFC
174	Equatorial Guinea	5	20	4	2	14	17	36	−19	14	0.700	CAF
175	Lesotho	7	24	2	8	14	14	51	−37	14	0.583	CAF
176	Aruba	6	16	4	1	11	23	42	−19	13	0.812	CONCACAF
177	Dominica	6	20	3	4	13	15	54	−39	13	0.650	CONCACAF
178	Laos	4	26	3	3	20	23	124	−101	12	0.462	AFC
179	Liechtenstein	6	60	2	6	52	23	185	−162	12	0.200	UEFA
180	Myanmar	3	14	3	2	9	11	38	−27	11	0.786	AFC
181	Macau	9	35	3	2	30	15	165	−150	11	0.314	AFC
182	Mongolia	5	14	3	1	10	11	46	−35	10	0.714	AFC
183	Afghanistan	4	14	3	1	10	10	45	−35	10	0.714	AFC
184	Cook Islands	6	20	3	1	16	16	63	−47	10	0.500	OFC
185	American Samoa	5	18	3	1	14	11	136	−125	10	0.556	OFC
186	Mauritania	6	16	2	3	11	13	31	−18	9	0.562	CAF
187	U.S. Virgin Islands	5	15	3	0	12	8	80	−72	9	0.600	CONCACAF
188	Cambodia	5	26	2	3	21	16	90	−74	9	0.346	AFC
189	Andorra	5	52	2	3	47	14	162	−148	9	0.173	UEFA
190	Guinea-Bissau	6	12	1	4	7	8	19	−11	7	0.583	CAF
191	São Tomé and Príncipe	4	8	2	1	5	4	22	−18	7	0.875	CAF
192	Guam	2	10	2	1	7	3	51	−48	7	0.700	AFC
193	Mauritius	7	18	1	3	14	14	49	−35	6	0.333	CAF
194	Bhutan	1	10	2	0	8	8	53	−45	6	0.600	AFC
195	Cayman Islands	6	16	0	5	11	6	35	−29	5	0.313	CONCACAF
196	Saar	1	4	1	1	2	4	8	−4	4	1.000	defunct
197	Central African Republic	3	10	1	1	8	8	21	−13	4	0.400	CAF
198	Djibouti	4	13	1	1	11	6	56	−50	4	0.308	CAF
199	Pakistan	8	30	0	4	26	12	118	−106	4	0.133	AFC
200	Eritrea	4	8	0	3	5	3	16	−13	3	0.375	CAF
201	Comoros	3	8	0	3	5	4	18	−14	3	0.375	CAF
202	Somalia	6	11	0	3	8	1	26	−25	3	0.273	CAF
203	British Virgin Islands	5	10	0	3	7	7	34	−27	3	0.300	CONCACAF
204	Turks and Caicos Islands	5	10	1	0	9	6	46	−40	3	0.300	CONCACAF
205	Brunei	3	14	1	0	13	3	59	−56	3	0.214	AFC
206	Seychelles	5	14	0	2	12	6	36	−30	2	0.143	CAF
207	San Marino	7	66	0	2	64	11	310	−299	2	0.030	UEFA
208	South Yemen	1	2	0	1	1	4	7	−3	1	0.500	defunct
209	South Sudan	1	2	0	1	1	1	5	−4	1	0.500	CAF
210	Tuvalu	1	4	0	1	3	2	22	−20	1	0.250	OFC
211	Kosovo	1	10	0	1	9	3	24	−21	1	0.100	UEFA
212	Montserrat	5	9	0	1	8	8	45	−37	1	0.111	CONCACAF
213	Anguilla	5	10	0	1	9	2	41	−39	1	0.100	CONCACAF
214	Gibraltar	1	10	0	0	10	3	47	−44	0	0.000	UEFA
215	Timor-Leste	3	14	0	0	14	4	68	−64	0	0.000	AFC

Footnotes

1. 
   ^ Teams are ranked by total points, then by goal difference, then by goals scored. Note that this column does not represent any official rankings.
   


2. 
   ^ Only qualifying campaigns are counted where the team played at least one match that was not annulled.
   


3. 
   ^ The three points for a win system is used.
   

Top scorers in preliminary competition (1934–2018)

#	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		Cristiano Ronaldo	30	38	0.79	2006 (7 goals), 2014 (8), 2018 (15)
4		Karim Bagheri	28	29	0.97	1998 (19 goals), 2002 (8), 2010 (1)
5		Kazu Miura	27	25	1.08	1994 (13 goals), 1998 (14)
6		Andriy Shevchenko	26	40	0.65	1998 (4 goals), 2002 (10), 2006 (6), 2010 (6)
7		Tim Cahill	25	36	0.69	2006 (7 goals), 2010 (4), 2014 (3), 2018 (11)
8		Carlos Pavón	25	37	0.68	1998 (2 goals), 2002 (15), 2006 (1), 2010 (7)
9		Edin Džeko	24	31	0.77	2010 (9 goals), 2014 (10), 2018 (5)
10		Jared Borgetti	23	24	0.96	2002 (6 goals), 2006 (14), 2010 (3)
11		Robert Lewandowski	21	28	0.75	2010 (2 goals), 2014 (3), 2018 (16)
12		Paulo Wanchope	21	37	0.57	1998 (6 goals), 2002 (7), 2006 (8)
13		Lionel Messi	21	45	0.47	2010 (4 goals), 2014 (10), 2018 (7)
14		Luis Suárez	21	48	0.44	2010 (5 goals), 2014 (11), 2018 (5)
15		Archie Thompson	20	15	1.33	2002 (16 goals), 2006 (2), 2014 (2)
16		Stern John	20	49	0.41	1998 (3 goals), 2002 (3), 2006 (12), 2010 (2)
17		Vaughan Coveny	19	19	1.00	1998 (4 goals), 2002 (9), 2006 (6)
18		Emmanuel Sanon	19	20	0.95	1974 (11 goals), 1978 (8)
19		Pauleta	19	24	0.79	2002 (8 goals), 2006 (11)
20		Zlatan Ibrahimović	19	29	0.66	2002 (1 goal), 2006 (8), 2010 (2), 2014 (8)
21		Hernán Crespo	19	33	0.58	1998 (3 goals), 2002 (9), 2006 (7)
22		Didier Drogba	18	19	0.95	2006 (9 goals), 2010 (6), 2014 (3)
23		Moumouni Dagano	18	24	0.75	2002 (1 goal), 2006 (5), 2010 (12)
24		Samuel Eto'o	18	29	0.62	2002 (3 goals), 2006 (4), 2010 (9), 2014 (2)
25		Raúl Díaz Arce	18	29	0.62	1994 (2 goals), 1998 (9), 2002 (7)
26		Marcelo Salas	18	32	0.56	1998 (11 goals), 2002 (4), 2006 (1), 2010 (2)
27		Robbie Keane	18	37	0.49	2002 (2 goals), 2006 (4), 2010 (6), 2014 (6)
28		Clint Dempsey	18	43	0.42	2010 (5 goals), 2014 (8), 2018 (5)
29		Iván Zamorano	17	11	1.54	1990 (1 goal), 1998 (12), 2002 (4)
30		Deon McCaulay	17	16	1.06	2010 (2 goals), 2014 (11), 2018 (4)
31		Dimitar Berbatov	17	24	0.71	2002 (6 goals), 2006 (8), 2010 (5)
32		Alexander Frei	17	25	0.68	2002 (5 goals), 2006 (7), 2010 (5)
33		Álvaro Saborío	17	41	0.41	2006 (3 goals), 2010 (6), 2014 (8)

(updated as of FIFA World Cup 2018 qualifiers)

First games and goalscorers in preliminary competition (1934–2018)

World Cup	First game	First goal
1934	11 June 1933; Sweden  6–2  Estonia	11 June 1933; Knut Kroon for  Sweden vs.  Estonia
1938	16 June 1937; Sweden  4–0  Finland	16 June 1937; Lennart Bunke for  Sweden vs.  Finland
1950	2 June 1949; Sweden  3–1  Republic of Ireland	2 June 1949; Davy Walsh for  Republic of Ireland vs.  Sweden
1954	9 May 1953; Yugoslavia  1–0  Greece	9 May 1953; Frane Matošić for  Yugoslavia vs.  Greece
1958	30 September 1956; Austria  7–0  Luxembourg	30 September 1956; Gerhard Hanappi for  Austria vs.  Luxembourg
1962	21 August 1960; Costa Rica  3–2  Guatemala	21 August 1960; Jorge Hernán Monge for  Costa Rica vs.  Guatemala
1966	24 May 1964; Netherlands  2–0  Albania	24 May 1964; Daan Schrijvers for  Netherlands vs.  Albania
1970	19 May 1968; Austria  7–1  Cyprus	19 May 1968; Erich Hof for  Austria vs.  Cyprus
1974	14 November 1971; Malta  0–2  Hungary	14 November 1971; Ferenc Bene for  Hungary vs.  Malta
1978	4 April 1976; Panama  3–2  Costa Rica	4 April 1976; Javier Jiménez for  Costa Rica vs.  Panama
1982	26 March 1980; Israel  0–0  Northern Ireland 26 March 1980; Cyprus  2–3  Republic of Ireland	26 March 1980; Paul McGee for  Republic of Ireland vs.  Cyprus
1986	2 May 1984; Cyprus  1–2  Austria	2 May 1984; Martin Gisinger for  Austria vs.  Cyprus
1990	17 April 1988; Guyana  0–4  Trinidad and Tobago	17 April 1988; Paul Elliot-Allen for  Trinidad and Tobago vs.  Guyana
1994	21 March 1992; Dominican Republic  0–4  Puerto Rico	21 March 1992; Marcos Lugris for  Puerto Rico vs.  Dominican Republic
1998	10 March 1996; Dominica  3–3  Antigua and Barbuda	10 March 1996; Anthony Dominique for  Dominica vs.  Antigua and Barbuda
2002	4 March 2000; Trinidad and Tobago  5–0  Netherlands Antilles 4 March 2000; Honduras  3–0  Nicaragua	4 March 2000; Marvin Andrews for  Trinidad and Tobago vs.  Netherlands Antilles
2006	6 September 2003; Ecuador  2–0  Venezuela	6 September 2003; Giovanny Espinoza for  Ecuador vs.  Venezuela
2010	25 August 2007; Tahiti  0–1  New Caledonia	25 August 2007; Pierre Wajoka for  New Caledonia vs.  Tahiti
2014	15 June 2011; Montserrat  2–5  Belize	15 June 2011; Deon McCauley for  Belize vs.  Montserrat
2018	12 March 2015; Timor-Leste  0–3  Mongolia (forfeited)	12 March 2015; Chan Vathanaka for  Cambodia vs.  Macau

Current format

Currently, 32 places are available in the final tournament until 2022. One of them is reserved for the host nation, but if two or more nations co-host the competition, each is awarded a place.

From 1934 to 2002, one berth was reserved for the winners of the previous World Cup, but 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, but 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 were 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 were 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 five in comparison to Europe's 13.^[5]

In early October 2016, it was announced that the World Cup would have featured 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. On 10 January 2017, the FIFA Council voted unanimously to expand the World Cup to a 48 team tournament that will open with a group stage consisting of 16 groups of three teams, with two teams progressing from each group to a knockout tournament starting with a round of 32.^[8] The new format for the qualifying process has yet to be confirmed, other than a play-off tournament that consists of one team from each confederation (except UEFA) and one additional team from the confederation of the host country for the last two World Cup berths.^[9]

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 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).

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 disqualified after being suspended for political interference.

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 weakest entrants to 6, which then joined the 34 strongest sides in 8 groups of 5, with the winners and 4 best runners-up advancing to the final group stage, comprising two 6-team groups. The winners and runners-up of the two final groups of 6 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.^[10]

A total of 24 teams eliminated from World Cup qualification in the second round competed in the third round of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification (which was separate from the third round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification), where they were divided into six groups of four teams and competed for the remaining slots of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. The 24 teams consisted of the 16 highest ranked teams eliminated in the second round, and the eight teams that advanced from the play-off round of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification which were contested by the remaining 12 teams eliminated in the second round.^[11]

Europe

The European qualification was unchanged from the 2010 system. The 54 national teams were divided into nine groups of six 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.^[12]

With the admission of Gibraltar and Kosovo as FIFA members in May 2016, both national teams made their debuts in World Cup qualifying.^[13] 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.^[14][15]

The Introduction of the new UEFA Nations League is likely to change the qualifying format. although this is yet to be confirmed.

North and Central America and Caribbean

See also: Hexagonal (CONCACAF)

The 2018 CONCACAF qualification process changed significantly from the 2014 qualification cycle. The first three rounds had 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 played 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 – saw the top three teams advance to the World Cup finals, while the fourth placed side entered 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 contested the third round, or final group stage, and the winners of each group entered a two-leg final. The winners of this final advanced to an inter-confederation play-off for a World Cup spot.

South America

As in recent qualification series CONMEBOL qualification consisted 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.^[16]

The top 4 teams from the 10-team group advanced to the World Cup finals, while the fifth placed team entered 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


• AFC Asian Cup qualification

References

1. 
   ^ "History of the FIFA World Cup preliminary competition (by year)" (PDF). fifa.com. FIFA. November 2009. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link) .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


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. 
   ^ "Fifa approves Infantino's plan to expand World Cup to 48 teams from 2026". The Guardian. 10 January 2017.
   


9. 
   ^ "Bureau of the Council recommends slot allocation for the 2026 FIFA World Cup". FIFA. 30 March 2017. Archived from the original on 9 April 2017.
   


10. 
    ^ "ExCo approves expanded AFC Asian Cup finals". AFC. 16 April 2014.
    


11. 
    ^ "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.
    


12. 
    ^ "Uefa retains 2010 World Cup qualifying format for 2014". bbc.co.uk. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
    


13. 
    ^ "FIFA Congress drives football forward, first female secretary general appointed". FIFA.com. 13 May 2016.
    


14. 
    ^ "Kosovo to play in Group I in European Qualifiers". uefa.org. Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). 9 June 2016.
    


15. 
    ^ "Kosovo and Gibraltar assigned to 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying groups". FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). 9 June 2016.
    


16. 
    ^ "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


• FIFA World Cup 2018 Guide (from fifa-world-cup-2018.info)