The long road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins for defending champions Argentina in September 2023.
The CONMEBOL qualification campaign kicks off on September 7, 2023 and runs until September 2025. It will likely be a gruelling two years as teams battle it out for a place at the expanded finals, where a total of 48 nations will take part.
With the latest Copa America competition scheduled for June-July 2024, CONMEBOL has split the qualification path for the next World Cup in order to simplify matters. There will be rounds of fixtures in September, October and November this year, before a break from qualifiers until September 2024.
The USA, Canada and Mexico will host the next World Cup in three years’ time. There are six automatic places at the finals for teams from South America, although another will have the chance to qualify via the intercontinental playoffs.
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There are 10 teams in the running to qualify for the 2026 World Cup from South America. With six automatic places and one interncontinental playoff spot up for grabs, that means only the three bottom sides in the standings come September 2025 will definitely miss out on a place at the finals.
Teams already qualified for 2026 World Cup: None
The rules for CONMEBOL qualification for the 2026 World Cup are relatively straightforward.
All 10 teams will play a home and away match against the other nine — so 18 games per team in total — with results fed into a main ‘league style’ table throughout qualification.
The top six teams in the table will receive an automatic place at the 2026 World Cup with tiebreakers for final placings based on points, overall goal difference, goals scored and head-to-head record respectively.
The team finishing in seventh place will be entered into an intercontinental playoff alongside one team each from CAF (Africa), OFC (Oceania), AFC (Asia) and two from CONCACAF (North/Central America).
The four lowest-ranked teams from those six will be drawn into single-elimination playoffs, with the winners then facing the two highest ranked in another single-round playoff to decide the final two spots at the 2026 World Cup.
Below is a live table for 2026 CONMEBOL World Cup qualification, which will be updated after each round of fixtures.
The top six teams earn automatic qualification to the 2026 World Cup, while the seventh-place finisher advances to the intercontinental playoffs.
*Updated on November 22, 2023.
*Ecuador were deducted 3 points by FIFA decree after fielding an ineligible player in a previous qualification cycle.
CONMEBOL has only confirmed the first four rounds of fixture details for 2026 World Cup qualifying in September/October 2023.
Details for the November 2023 matches and beyond will be updated in due course.
Bolivia star Marcelo Moreno was the top scorer in 2022 CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying with 10 goals, followed by Luis Suarez and Neymar with eight, and Lautaro Martinez and Messi on seven each.
*Updated on September 13, 2023.
Individual nations within CONMEBOL will have broadcast agreements in place with domestic operators.
Streaming service Fanatiz will be offering live access to selected CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers in the USA and Canada. ViX will also stream the home games of Argentina and Brazil for viewers in the United States.
However, with individual federations looking to negotiate with international broadcasters on a game-to-game basis, full details of TV/streaming plans are unconfirmed over future plans. This page will be updated in due course when further details are finalised.
Feargal is a content producer for The Sporting News.
