For many fans, the World Cup is definitely one of the most important events in the world. However, the strength of the Chinese team is truly indescribable. In the warm-up match in September, the performance of the Chinese football team was simply despairing for fans. Faced with Malaysia and Syria, the Chinese football team achieved a record of one draw and one loss. Although the world ranking did not decline but rose, no one dared to believe that the Chinese football team had a chance to enter the World Cup.
Changes in the format of the World Cup qualifiers across different continents
I believe many people were quite hopeful about the 2026 World Cup, after all, with the expansion of the Asian participation quota to 8.5, many fans still hope to see the Chinese national football team take a chance. But the current situation of Chinese football may disappoint everyone again.
After the expansion of the World Cup, the format of the competition also underwent significant changes.
Firstly, in order to have more match days allocated to the UEFA, the European region will have more groups in the World Cup qualifiers, and the number of teams in each group will be reduced, as well as fewer matches. However, the European region does not have a spot in the World Cup playoffs, and they directly have 16 teams to participate in the World Cup.
Except for Europe, all other continents have a World Cup playoff spot, with the host continent having an additional playoff spot.
The African region has 9.5 spots, and the format change is even simpler. 54 teams will be divided into nine groups, with each group advancing first. The second group in the top four will participate in the playoffs, and one spot will be determined to represent Africa in the playoffs.
The competition system in Asia is relatively complex, with most teams participating in a round of round 36 matches and then deciding on 18 spots to compete for the final World Cup spot. After going through the playoffs of the top 6 teams divided into two groups, the final 2.5 spots for Asia to advance to the World Cup will be determined, and Asia's ninth place will represent Asia in the World Cup playoffs.
The World Cup qualifiers in Central, North America, and the Caribbean will have two spots to participate in the World Cup playoffs. Because the host countries, the United States, Canada, and Mexico, directly qualify for the World Cup, there will be 3.5 qualifying spots in the qualifying rounds of the region. After the final round of the round of 12, the first of the three groups will directly advance to the World Cup, and the second of the two best performing groups will participate in the Canadian playoffs.
Announcement of the World Cup playoff format
The format of the World Cup playoffs has also been recently announced. For many fans, the attention to the World Cup playoffs seems to be higher than that of the World Cup qualifiers. After all, many have little hope for the Chinese football team, and they still imagine that if the Chinese football team can make it to the World Cup qualifiers playoffs?
