The international qualifiers are where the battles for places at the next World Cup are fought. Typically, teams are drawn into groups and play each other twice (home and away) to decide the group winners. The top two sides automatically qualify, while runners-up enter play-offs for the remaining places.
Often, the best team will win, but ties can be decided by extra time and penalty shootouts if needed. Occasionally, especially when one entrant lacks the facilities to host matches, the matches will be staged in neutral countries.
There are 31 places to fight for in the tournament, with each of FIFA’s six continental zones hosting their own qualifying competition. Those are Africa, Asia, North and Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Europe and Oceania.
Each competition is run by the appropriate continental governing body. The top-ranked nations qualify automatically, while the second-placed teams are entered into inter-continental play-offs.
DR Congo, South Africa, Cape Verde and Algeria all currently lead their groups. Other notables include 2022 semi-finalist Ghana, Mohamed Salah’s Egypt and African champions Ivory Coast.
Qualification in Europe is usually held in a full found-robin format, with each team playing the others home and away. The winning team automatically qualifies for the tournament. The runners-up are then placed into four paths of single-match play-offs to determine which side will compete in the next phase of the competition. If a team cannot play its two play-off matches due to political instability, it will be replaced by another eligible team.