New Zealand has secured the ticket for the 2026 World Cup as a second team. The team around the former Munich Sarpreet Singh prevailed 3-0 (0-0) against New Caledonia in the final of the oceanic qualifications and thus made the third participation in a final round after 1982 and 2010.
In Auckland, Michael Boxall (61st minute), Kosta Barbarouses (66.) and Elijah Just (80th) met for the “All white“, who have not yet succeeded in their previous World Cup participation.
New Zealand, as the winner of the tournament, gets the only direct starting point of Oceania. Since Australia switched to Asian Confederation before the 2010 World Cup, the “All Whites” have always been the winners of the qualification in oceania.
By expanding the World Cup to 48 teams, Oceania has a fixed starting place for the first time. As a loser of the final, Neukaledonia has a place in the international playoff tournament and can continue to hope for the World Cup. At this tournament, six teams from all confederations play two more places at the World Cup except the UEFA.
The three hosts Canada, Mexico and the USA are automatically qualified for the final round (June 11 to July 19, 2026), and 48 teams take part in the World Cup for the first time. Japan was the first nation to solve the World Cup ticket the previous week.
The football world has six Confederations. One of them is the UEFA, but the World Cup qualifier also runs in the other areas. Everywhere there is more places to distribute more to distribute by expanding the World Cup than before.
| confederacy | 2022 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
Africa | 5 | 9 |
Asia | 4 | 8 |
Europe | 13 | 16 |
Concacaf | 3 | 3 |
Oceania | 0 | 1 |
South America | 4 | 6 |
host | 1 | 3 |
Intercontinental playoffs | 2 | 2 |
| sum | 32 | 48 |