A dramatic night of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup across the globe ended with joy and heartbreak in equal measure, and with 42 of the 48 teams at next year’s showpiece in the United States, Canada and Mexico now known.
Scotland, in hair-raising fashion, and Austria, after snatching a late equaliser, ensured they will be appearing at the World Cup for the first time since 1998, joining Spain, Belgium and Switzerland as the final five of the 12 automatic qualifiers from Europe.
Across the Atlantic, Curacao became the smallest country to ever win a berth at the finals, joining Haiti and Panama in locking up the three automatic berths from the North and Central American region.
In Asia, Iraq kept their World Cup qualification dream alive with a penalty in the 17th minute of injury time to secure a place in the six-team inter-confederation play-off tournament in March.
Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, New Caledonia, Suriname and Jamaica are the other teams in the playoff with two spots up for grabs. The remaining four berths at the World Cup will be filled from Europe, through UEFA’s 16-team playoffs.
The draw for the World Cup is set for December 5 in Washington, DC.
List of teams qualified for the 48-team 2026 World Cup after Tuesday’s matches:
Host nations: Canada, Mexico, United States.
North America, Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF): Curacao, Haiti, Panama.
Africa (CAF): Algeria, Cape Verde, Egypt, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia.
Asia (AFC): Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Uzbekistan.
Europe (UEFA): Croatia, England, France, Norway, Portugal, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Scotland.
Oceania (OFC): New Zealand.
South America (CONMEBOL): Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay.
Scotland’s stunning late show
At a rocking Hampden Park in Glasgow, injury-time wonder-goals by Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean handed Scotland a stunning 4-2 win over Denmark that secured top spot in Group ‘C’.
Level at 2-2 as the clock ticked past 90, Denmark were set to advance to the World Cup as group winners until Tierney curled in an exquisite finish from distance three minutes into injury time.
McLean then put the match beyond doubt as he lifted the ball over Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who was well off his line, from the halfway line on 98 minutes.
“That just sums up this squad,” captain Andy Robertson told the BBC. “Never say die. We just keep going right to the end and one of the craziest games.
“We put the country through it, but I’m sure it’s worth it. We’re going to the World Cup.”
Earlier, Napoli midfielder Scott McTominay had given the hosts a third-minute lead with a towering overhead kick.
McTominay’s clubmate Rasmus Hojlund levelled for Denmark from the spot just shy of the hour, before his side went down to 10 as Rasmus Kristensen picked up a second booking.
An anxious Hampden Park let out a roar of ecstasy and relief in the 78th minute as Lawrence Shankland turned in from close range.
But Denmark struck back again through Patrick Dorgu four minutes later before Tierney and McLean stole the headlines.
Denmark, who only needed to avoid defeat to make sure of their third successive World Cup finals appearance, were left crestfallen.
From a position of control in the group they managed only one point from their last two games, including the home draw with Belarus on Saturday, which opened the door for Scotland to seal an automatic place with victory on Tuesday.
The Danes were the better side for most of the night too but must now face last-chance saloon in the playoffs.
“I thought we were pretty rubbish to be honest, but who cares?” Scotland talisman John McGinn said.
Austria’s late leveller
Michael Gregoritsch’s 77th-minute equaliser snatched Austria a 1-1 draw against visitors Bosnia that sealed top spot in Group ‘H’. Bosnia finished second in the group and go into the playoffs.
“I can’t believe it; we made it! I have been trying to reach the World Cup for 18 years. Finally now, at the end of my career, we got there. I can’t wait,” 36-year-old Austrian forward Marko Arnautovic said.
Needing a win to top the group and secure automatic qualification to their second World Cup after their maiden appearance in 2014, Bosnia stunned the home crowd when Haris Tabakovic headed in from close range to give them a 12th-minute lead.
The forward has now scored in each of their last three qualifiers, including in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Romania.
Ralf Rangnick’s Austria bounced back, retook control and put the ball in the net on the stroke of halftime but Konrad Laimer’s effort was overruled for a foul after a lengthy VAR review.
The visitors were content to sit back and soak up the pressure in the second half, hoping to catch Austria on the break.
But the hosts’ pressure eventually paid off when Gregoritsch saw Marcel Sabitzer’s cross sail past the Bosnian keeper before bouncing off the post and into his path for a powerful finish and his 23rd and most memorable international goal.
“It was difficult. It was really difficult,” Rangnick said. “Conceding a goal naturally made it even more difficult. But then we threw everything into it and were eventually rewarded. If Bosnia play like this, they will progress too.”
Spain, Switzerland qualify
Switzerland will appear in a sixth successive World Cup finals after drawing 1-1 in Pristina against Kosovo.
With the Swiss needing to avoid a defeat by six goals to seal top spot in Group ‘B’, they rarely looked troubled as Ruben Vargas handed them the lead in the 47th minute before Florent Muslija equalised.
Spain secured their place after a nervy 2-2 draw with Turkey in Seville, finishing unbeaten at the top of Group ‘E’ despite being given a genuine scare by their resilient visitors.
The European champions took an early lead through Dani Olmo in the fourth minute but Turkey, who needed an almost impossible seven-goal victory to claim the group, managed to equalise through Deniz Gul in the 42nd minute.
Turkey then stunned the home crowd by taking the lead in the 54th minute thanks to a Salih Ozcan strike from the edge of the box.
However, Mikel Oyarzabal levelled the match eight minutes later to avoid what would have been Spain’s first home defeat in a qualifier and Turkey had to settle for a place in the playoffs for next year’s finals in North America.
“We wanted to finish with a win and a clean sheet, so it’s bitter-sweet… but we’re happy to qualify for the World Cup,” Olmo told TVE.
Belgium, semi-finalists in 2018, cruised into the draw for the World Cup with a Jeremy Doku-inspired 7-0 hammering of Liechtenstein.
The Manchester City winger grabbed a brace in Liege as Charles De Ketelaere also netted twice and Hans Vanaken, Brandon Mechele and Alexis Saelemaekers completed the rout.
In the other Group ‘J’ match, second-placed Wales also ran up seven goals as they beat North Macedonia 7-1 with Harry Wilson scoring a hat-trick of set-piece goals.
North Macedonia can, nonetheless, look forward to a play-off place courtesy of their Nations League performance.
Romania, who beat San Marino by the same scoreline, will also have the chance to reach the World Cup thanks to the Nations League after finishing third in Group ‘H’.
Sweden, who picked up just their second point of the qualifying campaign with a 1-1 home draw against Slovenia, advanced in the same manner.
Curacao seal fairytale
A nerve-shredding finale to the CONCACAF qualifying campaign saw Curacao — with a population of just 156,000 — squeeze into next year’s finals with a 0-0 draw against Jamaica in Kingston.
The team known as the ‘Blue Wave’ finished top of Group ‘B’ with 12 points from six games, one point clear of Jamaica.
Curacao, whose veteran Dutch coach Dick Advocaat was forced to miss the game due to a family issue in the Netherlands, are by far the smallest nation ever to qualify for the World Cup.
The previous smallest country to qualify for the tournament were Iceland in 2018, with a population of around 350,000.
Curacao finally booked their place after an extraordinary finale at Kingston’s National Stadium, where Jamaica — coached by former England manager Steve McClaren — launched a furious onslaught as they chased the win which would guarantee them a World Cup place at their opponent’s expense.
The Jamaicans hit the the woodwork three times in the second half, with substitute Bailey-Tye Cadamarteri going agonizingly close with a header that crashed off the post in the 87th minute.
There was more drama in store in stoppage time, when Jamaica were awarded a penalty after substitute Jeremy Antonisse’s sliding tackle brought down Dujuan Richards in the area.
Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton pointed to the spot to leave Curacao facing the prospect of a heartbreaking defeat.
But as Curacao’s players protested, the decision went to VAR and was dramatically overturned to leave the Caribbean islanders on course for the World Cup.
Haiti defy the odds
Haiti defied the odds to book their place, beating Nicaragua 2-0 in Curacao, where they have been forced to play their home fixtures because of the strife in their country, to finish top of Group ‘C’.
Haiti’s qualification was remarkable given that armed gangs have taken control of almost all of the capital, Port-au-Prince, in a conflict that has forced some 1.3 million people from their homes and fuelled famine-level hunger.
The levels of danger in Haiti are such that their coach, Sbastien Migne, has not been there since being appointed 18 months ago but the Frenchman has nevertheless managed to engineer a fairytale qualification their second after a first appearance in 1974.
Haiti started the final round of fixtures on Tuesday behind Honduras on goal difference, but goals from Louicious Deedson and Ruben Providence lifted them to 11 points, while Honduras drew 0-0 away at Costa Rica and finished on nine, missing out on a place in next year’s inter-continental playoffs on goal difference from Suriname.
Panama, meanwhile, grabbed the other automatic qualification spot on offer with a 3-0 win over El Salvador at home that saw them end up as winners of Group ‘A’.
Panama romped through their game, ahead early after a thunderous strike from wingback Cesar Blackman, with their second coming from the penalty spot courtesy of Eric Davis, who was in the squad when Panama made their only previous World Cup appearance in 2018.
Substitute Jose Luis Rodriguez added a third late in the game.
Suriname had been ahead of Panama on goal difference before the start of Tuesday’s games but lost 3-1 in Guatemala.
However, a late own goal kept them in World Cup contention as they will go, along with Jamaica, to the inter-confederation playoff tournament.
Iraq down UAE
In front of a packed-out Basra International Stadium, Iraq’s Amir Al-Ammari struck from the spot to claim a dramatic 2-1 home win over the United Arab Emirates and secure a 3-2 aggregate victory that took Graham Arnold’s side into March’s intercontinental playoffs.
After last week’s 1-1 first-leg draw, the UAE broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute on Tuesday, as Yahia Nader slipped the ball through for Brazilian-born forward Caio Lucas to fire the ball past Iraq goalkeeper Jalal Hachim.
Iraq, who are trying to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since their debut appearance in 1986, were second-best for much of the game but a set piece allowed Arnold’s side to pull level.
Al-Ammari swung his free kick from the left flank towards the six-yard box and Mohanad Ali’s header took a deflection off Nader that ensured goalkeeper Khalid Eisa had little chance of preventing the ball from crossing the line.
The home side piled on the pressure late on, with Ali missing two good chances to score a winner.
But VAR awarded Iraq the latest of penalties for a handball, and Al-Ammari stepped up to net the spot-kick and keep alive his nation’s hopes of ending their 40-year wait to play in a World Cup.
Header image: Scotland players celebrate on the pitch after the FIFA World Cup 2026 European qualification football match between Scotland and Denmark at Hampden Park in Glasgow on November 18, 2025. — AFP
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