Discover dates, qualifying format and the number of places to the FIFA World Cup 26 and the FIFA Intercontinental Play-Off Tournament in Oceania.
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Oceania guaranteed an automatic FIFA World Cup berth for the first time
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Additional FIFA Intercontinental Play-off Tournament spot up for grabs
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New Zealand the only current OFC team with previous World Cup experience
FIFA World Cup 26™ tickets: 1
FIFA Play-off Tournament spots: 1
Schedule
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Round One: September 2024
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Round Two: October and November 2024
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Round Three: March 2025
Teams qualified for FIFA World Cup 26
None
Eliminated
American Samoa, Cook Islands, Tonga (3).
How qualifying works
Round 1, which took place in September 2024, involved the confederation’s four lowest-ranked nations – American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga – doing battle in a knockout tournament. Samoa prevailed over Tonga in the decider to progress to the preliminary tournament’s second stage.
Round 2, the draw for which took place in July, features two four-nation groups. Each team will face their section rivals once in matches played across October and November 2024, with the top two in each group then progressing to a decisive third stage of qualifying.
Round 3 will be contested in March 2025, with the four hopefuls taking part in semi-finals, the winners of which will face off with a World Cup 26 berth at stake. The team that prevails will be assured of a place at the global finals, with the runners-up left to fight it out for an additional spot at the Intercontinental Play-off Tournament.
Round 2 draw
GROUP A: Solomon Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea
GROUP B: Aotearoa New Zealand, Tahiti, Vanuatu, Samoa
FIFA Play-Off Tournament
Six sides will fight it out for the final two places at the 23rd FIFA World Cup. It will involve two teams from Concacaf and one team apiece from the AFC, CAF, CONMEBOL and OFC regions.
The four lowest-ranked nations will meet in bracket semi-finals. The two highest-ranked teams will go directly into the finals. The winners of the two bracket finals will reach the World Cup 2026.
Previous FIFA World Cup appearances
2 – New Zealand 2 – Australia* * Before switching to AFC, the Socceroos qualified as OFC representatives in 1974 and 2006
