The Japanese national football team was the first in the world to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

The Japanese national football team defeated the Bahrain team in the seventh round of qualification for the 2026 World Cup and secured its participation in the tournament. This is reported by 'Glavkom'.

The Japanese team won against Bahrain 2:0 at home. Daichi Kamada and Takefusa Kubo scored the goals.

The Japanese national team has accumulated 19 points and leads Group C. The team has guaranteed at least a second-place finish, allowing them to qualify for the tournament.

Australia is in second place in Group C with 10 points. The teams from Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Bahrain, and China each have 6 points.

This is already Japan's eighth consecutive qualification for the World Cup finals.

2026 World Cup Qualifying Cycle

UEFA (Europe) has 16 spots. The qualification in the European zone will last from March 2025 to March 2026 and will consist of two rounds.

1st round of qualification: 12 groups of five or four teams will compete from March to November 2025 in a traditional group system. The 12 group winners will receive direct berths to the final stage.

12 teams that finish second and the four best group winners of the Nations League who finish below second place in the European qualifying group stage will participate in the playoff mini-tournaments.

2nd round of qualification: the playoff mini-tournaments in March 2026 will consist of single-match semifinals and finals. The 16 participants will be divided into four playoff paths. The four winners will receive berths to the World Cup.

AFC (Asia): 8 spots + 1 place in the intercontinental playoff.

CAF (Africa): 9 spots + 1 place in the intercontinental playoff.

CONCACAF (North and Central America): 3 tournament hosts + 3 spots + 2 places in the intercontinental playoff.

CONMEBOL (South America): 6 spots + 1 place in the intercontinental playoff.

OFC (Oceania): 1 spot + 1 place in the intercontinental playoff.

Intercontinental playoff: 2 spots.

2026 World Cup Final Tournament

The 2026 World Cup will be the first in history where 48 national teams will compete in the final part. 12 groups of four teams will be formed. The top two teams from each group and the eight best third-placed teams will advance to the round of 16.

The matches of the 23rd World Cup will take place in 16 cities. They will be: in Canada - Toronto and Vancouver, in Mexico - Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey, in the USA - Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle.

The opening match of the World Cup will take place on June 11, 2026, in Mexico City, and the final match will be held on July 19 in New York.

Let us remind you that Russia was disqualified from the World Cup qualifying draw.