As October’s international window comes to a close, the countdown for next summer’s World Cup is in full swing. Here’s how nations around the globe are doing in their qualifying attempts.
In Europe, the top 12 in the UEFA Nations League will qualify automatically for the finals, while those finishing lower than that will have to take part in intercontinental playoffs. There are also paths for teams to reach the finals via FIFA’s ‘play-off system’, which involves the best runners-up in each confederation’s group.
Several big-name nations are in contention to reach the World Cup finals via this route, with four routes left open in Conmebol and one in Asia. Despite dropping a point against Israel, Norway are top of their group after Erling Haaland’s sixth hat-trick of the qualifiers.
Elsewhere in the continent, Jordan are in pole position to make the finals after a 3-0 win over Kyrgyzstan. The victory pushed them up to second in Group B, ensuring they will join Iran (24 points) in the finals from Round 3. Uzbekistan (16 points) have already qualified from their group, while Qatar, Iraq and Oman are out.
Just two direct qualification spots remain in Asia, with the runner-ups of each group progressing to the fourth round. In this phase, the groups are redrawn into two groups of three teams who play single round robin matches, with the winners and runners-up advancing to Round 5. The winners from each group will go through to the final two places at the World Cup. Suriname and Jamaica are vying for these spots in their group, with both sides managed by former Netherlands goalkeeper Stanley Menzo. Huddersfield defender Radinio Balker is among the players in the Suriname squad.