Johannesburg, South Africa — Iraq’s triumph over Bolivia in the second final of the FIFA Playoff tournament in Mexico has finalized the lineup for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, a tournament that will span three nations: Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The Lions of Mesopotamia secured their spot with a 2-1 victory, following the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s narrow 1-0 win against Jamaica in the first final. This marks the completion of the 48-team lineup, which includes Turkiye, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden, and Czechia, rounding out the European quota.
The 2026 World Cup, set to be the largest in the tournament’s history, will feature 104 matches across 16 venues. Argentina is set to defend the title won by Lionel Messi in 2022, while Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan are set to make their debuts. The opening match will see Mexico face South Africa on June 11 in Mexico City, echoing the tournament’s opening game from 2010.
The group stage is poised to be highly competitive, with Mexico’s Group A including South Korea and Czechia, while the United States faces a challenging group with Australia, Paraguay, and Turkiye. Canada, too, will need to navigate a difficult group featuring Switzerland, Qatar, and Bosnia. The full breakdown of the 48 teams across the 12 groups is as follows:.
Source: Al Jazeera
