Lionel Messi ArgentinaGetty Images

World Cup 2018: Which teams have qualified for the finals in Russia?

The field of teams that will travel to Russia for next summer's World Cup is complete.

African qualifying, the European play-offs and two inter-continental play-offs completed the cycle before the draw for the finals at the beginning of last December.

With qualification complete, Goal has all the information you need to know about which nations have confirmed their places at the tournament.

Article continues below

This is our complete guide to the qualification spots and the teams that have sealed their spot in Russia and to those that came up short in their quest to make the World Cup. 

1. World Cup lineup in full

2. AFC (Asia) qualification
2a. Qualified
2b. Eliminated

3. CAF (Africa) qualification
3a. Qualified
3b. Eliminated

4. CONCACAF (North America) qualification
4a. Qualified
4b. Eliminated

5. CONMEBOL (South America) qualification
5a. Qualified
5b. Eliminated

6. OFC (Oceania) qualification
6a. Qualified
6b. Eliminated

7. UEFA (Europe) qualification
7a. Qualified
7b. Eliminated


THE WORLD CUP 2018 LINEUP IN FULL


Russia Confederations Cup

Below is a list of the teams that have qualified for the World Cup in 2018.

CountryQualification place
RussiaHosts
IranAFC Third Round Group A winners
South KoreaAFC Third Round Group A runners up
JapanAFC Third Round Group B winners
Saudi ArabiaAFC Third Round Group B runners up
AustraliaAFC fifth place vs CONCACAF fourth place play-off winners
TunisiaCAF Group A winners
NigeriaCAF Group B winners
MoroccoCAF Group C winners
SenegalCAF Group D winners
EgyptCAF Group E winners
MexicoCONCACAF Fifth Round first place
Costa RicaCONCACAF Fifth Round second place
PanamaCONCACAF Fifth Round third place
BrazilCONMEBOL first place
UruguayCONMEBOL second place
ArgentinaCONMEBOL third place
ColombiaCONMEBOL fourth place
PeruCONMEBOL fifth place vs OFC first place play-off winners
FranceUEFA Group A winners
PortugalUEFA Group B winners
GermanyUEFA Group C winners
SerbiaUEFA Group D winners
PolandUEFA Group E winners
EnglandUEFA Group F winners
SpainUEFA Group G winners
BelgiumUEFA Group H winners
IcelandUEFA Group I winners
SwitzerlandUEFA second-place play-off winners
CroatiaUEFA second-place play-off winners
SwedenUEFA second-place play-off winners
DenmarkUEFA second-place play-off winners

AFC (ASIA) QUALIFICATION


South Korea World Cup qualifying

World Cup qualification in Asia is split into three rounds plus play-offs.

In the first round, the 12 teams ranked 35th-46th within the continent play in a two-legged knockout round, with the six winners advancing.

In the second round, those six teams join the teams ranked 1st-34th in eight groups of five teams that play each other home and away. The eight group winners and four best runners up advance to the third round and also qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup.

In the third round, the 12 remaining teams are drawn into two groups of six. Again, they play each other home and away and the top two in each group qualify for the World Cup finals.

The third-placed teams in each group then play each other in a two-legged play-off, with the winner qualifying for another two-legged play-off against the fourth-placed team from North and Central America (CONCACAF). The winner of that tie qualifies for the World Cup finals.

Qualified:

CountryAFC qualification place
IranThird Round Group A winners
South KoreaThird Round Group A runners up
JapanThird Round Group B winners
Saudi ArabiaThird Round Group B runners up
AustraliaInter-confederation play-off winners

Eliminated:

CountryAFC stage reached
SyriaFourth Round
UzbekistanThird Round
ChinaThird Round
United Arab EmiratesThird Round
IraqThird Round
ThailandThird Round
QatarThird Round
PalestineSecond Round
MalaysiaSecond Round
Timor-LesteSecond Round
JordanSecond Round
KyrgyzstanSecond Round
TajikistanSecond Round
BangladeshSecond Round
Hong KongSecond Round
MaldivesSecond Round
BhutanSecond Round
OmanSecond Round
TurkmenistanSecond Round
GuamSecond Round
IndiaSecond Round
SingaporeSecond Round
AfghanistanSecond Round
CambodiaSecond Round
VietnamSecond Round
Chinese TaipeiSecond Round
IndonesiaSecond Round
LebanonSecond Round
KuwaitSecond Round
MyanmarSecond Round
LaosSecond Round
North KoreaSecond Round
PhilippinesSecond Round
BahrainSecond Round
YemenSecond Round
NepalFirst Round
PakistanFirst Round
MongoliaFirst Round
MacauFirst Round
BruneiFirst Round
Sri LankaFirst Round

CAF (AFRICA) QUALIFICATION


Bafana Bafana, Lebogang Manyama & Senegal, Salif SaneBackpagepix

World Cup qualification in Africa is split into three rounds.

The first round sees the 26 teams ranked 28th-53rd within the continent play in a two-legged knockout round, with the 13 winners advancing.

The second round follows the same format, with the 13 first-round winners joined by the teams ranked 1st-27th for a total of 40 teams. The 20 winners advance.

The third round sees those 20 teams divided into five groups of four, with each group winner qualifying for the World Cup finals.

Qualified:

CountryCAF qualification place
NigeriaThird Round Group B winners
EgyptThird Round Group E winners
SenegalThird Round Group D winners
TunisiaThird Round Group A winners
MoroccoThird Round Group C winners

Eliminated:

CountryCAF stage reached
DR CongoThird Round
Ivory CoastThird Round
Cape VerdeThird Round
Burkina FasoThird Round
South AfricaThird Round
UgandaThird Round
GhanaThird Round
GabonThird Round
ZambiaThird Round
MaliThird Round
CameroonThird Round
AlgeriaThird Round
GuineaThird Round
LibyaThird Round
CongoThird Round
NigerSecond Round
MauritaniaSecond Round
NamibiaSecond Round
EthiopiaSecond Round
ChadSecond Round
ComorosSecond Round
SwazilandSecond Round
BotswanaSecond Round
BurundiSecond Round
LiberiaSecond Round
MadagascarSecond Round
KenyaSecond Round
TanzaniaSecond Round
SudanSecond Round
RwandaSecond Round
Equatorial GuineaSecond Round
MozambiqueSecond Round
BeninSecond Round
TogoSecond Round
AngolaSecond Round
SomaliaFirst Round
South SudanFirst Round
GambiaFirst Round
Sao Tome & PrincipeFirst Round
Sierra LeoneFirst Round
LesothoFirst Round
DjiboutiFirst Round
EritreaFirst Round
SeychellesFirst Round
Guinea-BissauFirst Round
Central African RepublicFirst Round
MauritiusFirst Round
MalawiFirst Round

CONCACAF (NORTH AMERICA) QUALIFICATION


Javier Chicharito Hernandez Oribe Peralta Mexico

World Cup qualification in North and Central America is split into five rounds plus play-offs.

The first round sees the 14 teams ranked 22nd-35th within the continent play in a two-legged knockout round, with the seven winners advancing.

In the second round, those seven teams are joined by the 13 teams ranked ninth-20th for a total of 20 teams. They play in another two-legged knockout round, with the 10 winners advancing.

In the third round, those 10 teams are joined by the teams ranked seventh and eighth for a total of 12 teams. Again, they play in two-legged knockout ties, with the six winners going through.

The fourth round sees those six teams plus the six top-ranked teams on the continent divided into three groups of four. The teams in each group meet home and away and the top two teams in each group advance to the fifth round.

In the fifth round, the six remaining teams play home and away in one group. The top three countries qualify for the World Cup, and the fourth-place team goes into a play-off against the fifth-place team from Asia.

Qualified:

CountryCONCACAF qualification place
MexicoFifth Round first place
Costa RicaFifth Round second place
PanamaFifth Round third place

Eliminated:

CountryCONCACAF stage reached
HondurasInter-confederational play-off
United StatesFifth Round
Trinidad & TobagoFifth Round
CanadaFourth Round
El SalvadorFourth Round
HaitiFourth Round
JamaicaFourth Round
GuatemalaFourth Round
Saint Vincent & the GrenadinesFourth Round
CuracaoThird Round
BelizeThird Round
GrenadaThird Round
NicaraguaThird Round
ArubaThird Round
Antigua & BarbudaThird Round
GuyanaSecond Round
Saint LuciaSecond Round
Puerto RicoSecond Round
DominicaSecond Round
Domincan RepublicSecond Round
BermudaSecond Round
BarbadosSecond Round
Saint Kitts & NevisSecond Round
CubaSecond Round
SurinameSecond Round
BahamasFirst Round
British Virgin IslandsFirst Round
U.S. Virgin IslandsFirst Round
Turks & Caicos IslandsFirst Round
AnguillaFirst Round
Cayman IslandsFirst Round
MontserratFirst Round

CONMEBOL (SOUTH AMERICA) QUALIFICATION


Argentina World Cup qualifyingGetty Images

World Cup qualification in South America consists of only one round.

All of the continent's 10 teams play home and away in one group phase. The top four teams qualify for the World Cup finals, while the fifth team goes into a play-off against the best team from Oceania.

Qualified:

CountryCONMEBOL qualification place
BrazilFirst place
UruguaySecond place
ArgentinaThird place
ColombiaFourth place
PeruInter-confederation play-off winners

Eliminated:

CountryCONMEBOL stage reached
ChileFirst Round
ParaguayFirst Round
EcuadorFirst Round
BoliviaFirst Round
VenezuelaFirst Round

OFC (OCEANIA) QUALIFICATION


New Zealand World Cup qualifyingGetty Images

World Cup qualification in Oceania is split into three rounds plus a play-off. It is the only continent not guaranteed to have a team at the finals.

In the first round, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga all face each other once in a group, with the group winner advancing to the second round.

The second round sees eight teams - seven new sides plus the first-round winner - split into two groups of four. The top three teams in each group reach the third round, and the top two in each group advance to the knockout stage of the OFC Nations Cup.

In the third round, the six remaining teams are divided into two groups of three. The teams in each group face each other home and away and the winners of each group advance to a final play-off tie.

The winners of the two-legged play-off tie face the fifth place team from South America over two legs for a place at the finals.

Qualified:

None.

Eliminated:

CountryOFC stage reached
New ZealandInter-confederation play-off 
Solomon IslandsFourth Round
New CaledoniaThird Round
FijiThird Round
TahitiThird Round
Papua New GuineaThird Round
SamoaSecond Round
VanuatuSecond Round
American SamoaFirst Round
Cook IslandsFirst Round
TongaFirst Round

UEFA (EUROPE) QUALIFICATION


Portugal World Cup qualifying

World Cup qualification in Europe consists of one round plus play-offs.

Initially, the 52 countries affiliated with UEFA (excluding hosts Russia) were drawn into seven groups of six teams and two groups of five teams. That later became nine groups of six teams when Kosovo and Gibraltar gained FIFA membership.

The winners of each group qualify for the World Cup finals.

The nine runners up are then ranked by the points they have earned against the teams ranked first to fifth in their group. The top eight teams based on that criteria are drawn into four home-and-away knockout ties, with the winners qualifying for the finals.

Qualified:

CountryUEFA qualification place
RussiaWorld Cup hosts
FranceGroup A winners
PortugalGroup B winners
GermanyGroup C winners
SerbiaGroup D winners
PolandGroup E winners
EnglandGroup F winners
SpainGroup G winners
BelgiumGroup H winners
IcelandGroup I winners
SwitzerlandPlay-off winners
CroatiaPlay-off winners
SwedenPlay-off winners
DenmarkPlay-off winners

Eliminated:

CountryUEFA stage reached
Republic of IrelandPlay-off
ItalyPlay-off
GreecePlay-off
Northern IrelandPlay-off
NetherlandsFirst Round
SlovakiaFirst Round
WalesFirst Round
UkraineFirst Round
BulgariaFirst Round
AustriaFirst Round
TurkeyFirst Round
CyprusFirst Round
AlbaniaFirst Round
EstoniaFirst Round
IsraelFirst Round
RomaniaFirst Round
ArmeniaFirst Round
Czech RepublicFirst Round
NorwayFirst Round
AzerbaijanFirst Round
HungaryFirst Round
BelarusFirst Round
LuxembourgFirst Round
San MarinoFirst Round
MaltaFirst Round
MacedoniaFirst Round
LiechtensteinFirst Round
FinlandFirst Round
KosovoFirst Round
Faroe IslandsFirst Round
AndorraFirst Round
LatviaFirst Round
GibraltarFirst Round
GeorgiaFirst Round
MoldovaFirst Round
LithuaniaFirst Round
KazakhstanFirst Round
MontenegroFirst Round
SloveniaFirst Round
ScotlandFirst Round
Bosnia & HerzegovinaFirst Round

Click here to return to the top of the page.

Advertisement