FIFA World Cup 2026

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗙𝗖'𝘀 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗖𝘂𝗽 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗭𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗵.

•Solomon Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea drawn in Group A

• Group B comprises New Zealand, Tahiti, Vanuatu and the round one winner

• Matches commence in September 2024

The path to the FIFA World Cup 26™ for Oceania’s 11 member associations has been laid out following the preliminary qualification draw, held at the Home of FIFA in Zurich.

For the first time, the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) has a direct slot for the FIFA World Cup, with an additional berth available via the FIFA Intercontinental Play-off Tournament.

The tussle for those tickets commences with September’s first round, in which the confederation’s four lowest-ranked nations – American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga – will jostle for a spot in the next stage.

The second round features two groups of four nations, with each nation facing each other once in matches played in October and November, 2024. The top two in each group then progress to the decisive third round, set to played in March, 2025.

The third round winner progresses directly to the World Cup 26, while the runners-up secure an Intercontinental Play-off Tournament berth.

Of the region’s current members, only New Zealand has previously appeared at a World Cup, in 1982 and 2010. The All Whites were slotted into Group B, alongside Tahiti, Vanuatu and the winner of the first round.

The Solomon Islands were the other top seed for the draw and they headline Group A, which also features Fiji, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea.

𝗗𝗿𝗮𝘄 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀

GROUP A: Solomon Islands (🇸🇧), Fiji (🇫🇯), New Caledonia (🇫🇷🇳🇨), Papua New Guinea (🇵🇬)

GROUP B: New Zealand (🇳🇿), Tahiti (🇵🇫), Vanuatu (🇻🇺), Winner Round One [American Samoa (🇦🇸), Cook Islands (🇨🇰), Samoa (🇼🇸), Tonga (🇹🇴)]

𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲

Round One: September 2024

Round Two: October and November 2024

Round Three: March 2025