In the CONMEBOL FIFA Zone – the continental union for South America – 10 countries will participate in the World Cup qualifiers. Six to seven of these countries will qualify for the final round: the 2026 World Cup in North America with a total of 48 national teams participating. The groups and the schedule of the qualification series of the CONMEBOL countries for the World Cup, with all matches, dates, and times, will be listed here as soon as they are known. See also: Draw qualification World Cup 2026.
Qualification CONMEBOL World Cup 2026 | South American qualifiers
The qualifying series in the FIFA zone CONMEBOL for the 2026 Football World Cup runs from March/June 2023 to 2025. In the qualifying zone of the South American Football Confederation, ten countries compete for six to seven tickets for the World Cup in North America. There is one group and there are eighteen matchdays. The numbers one through six qualify directly. The CONMEBOL country that finishes as number seven in the regular qualifying series will play the intercontinental play-offs in November 2025.
The CONMEBOL qualifying series consists of eighteen rounds. The ten countries that are part of this FIFA continent all play in the same group. Each country plays once at home and once away against each of the other nine countries. In other words, it is a double round-robin schedule, with a total of ninety games. Six countries qualify from this. In addition, there is a resit for one CONMEBOL country in the final, intercontinental FIFA World Cup 2026 play-offs. Will that representative from South America finish in the top two of that play-off mini-tournament? Then in 2026 there will be not six, but seven South American countries at the World Cup football in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
When does the World Cup qualifying series in South America start and end in FIFA Zone CONMEBOL?
Qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in zone CONMEBOL (South America) is expected to start in March-June 2023 and end in November 2025. These and subsequent dates are based on the preliminary FIFA Match Calendar and are subject to change. The first matchday of the qualifying round will be in the spring of 2023. The last matchday of the regular qualification will be in 2025. This will be followed by intercontinental play-offs, including one country from the FIFA Zone CONMEBOL, in November 2025.
Main Round | Qualification group with all ten CONMEBOL countries
The qualifying matches within the Zone CONMEBOL are scheduled for all ten countries from this FIFA football continent. These ten nations are united in one group, including world champion Argentina. Each country plays nine home games and nine away games.
When: from March/June 2023 (subject to change)
Which countries will continue?
The six countries that finish highest in the CONMEBOL qualifying group earn a direct ticket to the final round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The total number of CONMEBOL participants in the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico is therefore at least six. But one more South American country could be added. That is, after eighteen match days, possibly the number seven in the qualifying group. This one proceeds to the intercontinental play-offs. If the representative from South America succeeds in this, the total number of countries qualified from the continent CONMEBOL for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be 6 + 1 = 7.
Note: Ecuador starts qualifying for the World Cup with 3 points deducted. FIFA and the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol have imposed this penalty because of incorrect information on the birth certificate of international Byron Castillo.
Extra Round | Intercontinental Playoff | Last possible World Cup ticket for CONMEBOL
As mentioned, the number seven in the South American qualifying series still has a chance to qualify for the World Cup. This country will represent the FIFA Zone CONMEBOL during the intercontinental World Cup 2026 qualification play-offs. Six countries are participating. They come from five of the six FIFA confederations: AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), OFC (Oceania), CONMEBOL (South America) and CONCACAF (North America, Central America, and the Caribbean). The European confederation, UEFA, will have no representative at these intercontinental 2026 World Cup play-offs, while World Cup host CONCACAF will be allowed to provide two countries. The six countries compete for the last two (of 48) tickets that entitle them to participate in the World Cup in the three North American countries USA, Canada and Mexico. Including these cross-continental play-offs, the total number of World Cup participants from the FIFA Zone CONMEBOL could reach seven.
Format cross-intercontinental playoffs
The format of the six-nation inter-confederation play-offs is as follows. The four (of the six) qualified countries that are, at that moment, lowest in the FIFA Ranking are linked by a draw. The two winners then play against the two countries that (of those six) are highest in the FIFA Ranking. The two winners of those last two games will eventually get the last World Cup tickets.
When: November 2025 (subject to change).
Countries qualifying for the 2026 World Cup from CONMEBOL, AFC, CAF, OFC, CONCACAF and UEFA
From the FIFA CONMEBOL Zone, a minimum of six, a maximum of seven countries will qualify for the World Cup. The total number of countries during the final round in 2026 is 48. This number is made up as follows.
| FIFA ZONE | QUALIFYING WORLD CUP FOOTBALL 2026 | AVAILABLE SLOTS FIFA CONTINENTS |
|---|---|
| AFC | Minimum 8, maximum 9 countries (possible +1 via intercontinental play-offs) |
| CONCACAF | Minimum 6, maximum 8 countries (possible +2 via intercontinental play-offs) Host countries USA, Canada and Mexico are already automatically qualified |
| CONMEBOL | Minimum 6, maximum 7 countries (possible +1 via intercontinental play-offs) |
| OFC | Minimum 1, maximum 2 countries (possible +1 via intercontinental play-offs) |
| CAF | Minimum 9, maximum 10 countries (possible +1 via intercontinental play-offs) |
| UEFA | 16 countries |
These are the 10 CONMEBOL countries participating in the qualification for the 2026 World Cup
These countries come from the FIFA Zone of the South American Football Confederation. On paper, they all have an equal chance of winning a ticket for the final round of the 2026 World Cup. This includes the current world champion, the winner of the 2022 World Cup: Argentina. During the last World Cup in Qatar, in addition to Lionel Messi’s formation, South America nations Brazil (quarter-final), Ecuador (first round) and Uruguay (first round) were also present.
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
See also: the positions of the CONMEBOL country teams in the FIFA Ranking.
When is the draw for qualification for the 2026 World Cup in the CONMEBOL zone?
For the countries on the football continent of South America, it has already been determined who plays against whom. Namely, all ten CONMEBOL countries play against each other in one World Cup qualifying group, home and away. There is therefore no preliminary draw for the classification of the World Cup qualification in this zone. However, FIFA and the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol are still determining the final program with the dates and order of the ninety mutual meetings in the main round. See also: Preliminary Draw World Cup Football.
The information on this page is based on the official information from the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), current and subject to possible changes.
