The next World Cup will have 48 participants and a new format. CONMEBOL gains two places and has six direct qualifiers and a play-off.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar that the Argentina national team won was the last to be played with 32 countries. With effect from the 2026 World Cup, which is jointly organized by the United States, Mexico and Canada, the number of participants will be expanded to 48 and a new competition format will therefore be introduced.
THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE UNITED STATES, CANADA AND MEXICO 2026
And one of the confederations that will benefit most from the addition of 16 teams to the competition will be CONMEBOL, with more than half of the 10 South American teams set to qualify for the top event.
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QUOTAS
Because the 2026 World Cup will have 48 teams instead of 32, the South American Confederation benefited from two extra places. In this way, the qualifiers qualify six teams directly for the World Cup and a seventh gets the chance to compete for a place in a play-off.
This way, only 3 of the 10 countries on the continent will soon be left out of the game.
ATTENDEES
As always, the qualifying tournaments will be played by the 10 South American national federations affiliated with CONMEBOL. Despite being the current world champion, Argentina must participate in the qualifying match because his place at the 2026 World Cup is not immediately guaranteed.
The participating teams are:
- Argentina
- Brazil
- Uruguay
- Colombia
- Chili
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Venezuela
- Ecuador
- Bolivia
FORMAT
Following the expansion of the places available for the World Cup, Alejandro Domínguez promoted the idea of adapting the CONMEBOL classification system. And in mid-2022, Brazil presented a proposal to change it to a two-zone schedule of five, with return matches, in order to shorten the calendar and, above all, prevent some teams from qualifying too early and their participation becoming meaningless. , which would cause problems with the sale of television rights and disputes with clubs over the transfer of footballers.
However, at a meeting in late August of the same year, the CONMEBOL Council voted unanimously in favor of asking FIFA to maintain the format in force since 1995: a unique group, with all-against-all competitions and two wheels, to complete a total of 18 dates.
WHEN DO THE SOUTH AMERICAN QUALIFICATIONS START?
The United States – Mexico – Canada 2026 qualifiers will start on the FIFA date of September 2023. The leaders’ original idea was to start three months earlier, in June, but that ultimately did not work out.
FIXTURE
Date 1
Uruguay 3-1 Chile
Colombia 1-0 Venezuela
Brazil 5-1 Bolivia
Paraguay 0-0 Peru
Argentina 1-0 Ecuador
Date 2
Peru 0-1 Brazil
Venezuela 1-0 Paraguay
Bolivia 0-3 Argentina
Chile 0-0 Colombia
Ecuador 2-1 Uruguay
Date 3
Colombia-Uruguay
Brazil – Venezuela
Bolivia – Ecuador
Argentina – Paraguay
Chile – Peru
Date 4
Uruguay-Brazil
Peru – Argentina
Venezuela – Chile
Paraguay-Bolivia
Ecuador-Colombia
Date 5
Colombia – Brazil
Venezuela-Ecuador
Bolivia – Peru
Argentina – Uruguay
Chile – Paraguay
Date 6
Uruguay-Bolivia
Peru-Venezuela
Brazil – Argentina
Paraguay-Colombia
Ecuador – Chile
Date 7
Uruguay-Paraguay
Peru-Colombia
Brazil – Ecuador
Bolivia – Venezuela
Argentina – Chile
Date 8
Colombia – Argentina
Venezuela-Uruguay
Paraguay – Brazil
Chile – Bolivia
Ecuador-Peru
Date 9
Peru-Uruguay
Venezuela – Argentina
Bolivia – Colombia
Chile – Brazil
Ecuador-Paraguay
Date 10
Uruguay-Ecuador
Colombia – Chile
Brazil – Peru
Paraguay-Venezuela
Argentina – Bolivia
Date 11
Uruguay-Colombia
Peru – Chile
Venezuela – Brazil
Paraguay – Argentina
Ecuador-Bolivia
Date 12
Colombia-Ecuador
Brazil – Uruguay
Bolivia – Paraguay
Argentina – Peru
Chile – Venezuela
Date 13
Uruguay-Argentina
Peru-Bolivia
Brazil – Colombia
Paraguay – Chile
Ecuador-Venezuela
Date 14
Colombia-Paraguay
Venezuela-Peru
Bolivia-Uruguay
Argentina Brazil
Chile – Ecuador
Date 15
Colombia-Peru
Venezuela-Bolivia
Paraguay-Uruguay
Chile – Argentina
Ecuador – Brazil
Date 16
Uruguay-Venezuela
Peru-Ecuador
Brazil – Paraguay
Bolivia – Chile
Argentina – Colombia
Date 17
Uruguay-Peru
Colombia-Bolivia
Brazil – Chile
Paraguay-Ecuador
Argentina – Venezuela
Date 18
Peru-Paraguay
Venezuela-Colombia
Bolivia – Brazil
Chile – Uruguay
Ecuador – Argentina
WORLD REQUEST 2026
FIFA DATES
- March 2023
- June 2023
- March 2024 (UEFA only)
- June 2024
- October 2025
- November 2025
- March 2026
- June 2026
Source: Goal