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World Cup 2026 playoffs live scores: Updated results, highlights from UEFA and FIFA intercontinental qualifiers

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World Cup 2026 playoffs live scores: Updated results, highlights from UEFA and FIFA intercontinental qualifiers originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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The finals of the 2026 World Cup playoffs all take place today, as teams compete for the last six spots at this summer's tournament.

The four finals of the UEFA pathways are staged at four different venues across the continent, while the two intercontinental games will be played in Monterrey, Mexico.

Italy are among the teams hoping to qualify for the World Cup proper. The Azzurri, who face Bosnia and Herzegovina in their playoff final, are bidding to avoid the ignominy of missing out on a third straight World Cup.

2026 WORLD CUP HQ:Latest World Cup news | World Cup schedule | Buy World Cup tickets

World Cup playoffs live scores

UEFA finals: Tuesday, March 31

Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Italy

Czechia vs. Denmark

Kosovo vs. Turkey

Sweden vs. Poland

FIFA intercontinental finals: Tuesday, March 31

Congo DR vs. Jamaica

Iraq vs. Bolivia

MORE WORLD CUP NEWS:

World Cup qualifying live updates, results, highlights from today's matches

All times ET.

1:40 p.m.: It all comes down to this — the final day of World Cup qualifying. The remaining six spots at the tournament will be filled by the winners of today's playoffs across Europe and in Mexico.

Who has qualified for the 2026 World Cup?

Forty-two of the 48 teams in the 2026 World Cup were drawn in December, with the remaining six spots to be filled by the UEFA and intercontinental playoff winners.

Here is the full list of countries to qualify for the World Cup so far:

NationConfederationLast World Cup appearanceUnited States (host)CONCACAF2022Mexico (host)CONCACAF2022Canada (host)CONCACAF2022PanamaCONCACAF2018HaitiCONCACAF1974CuracaoCONCACAFNone (First appearance)JapanAFC2022IranAFC2022UzbekistanAFCNone (First appearance)AustraliaAFC2022South KoreaAFC2022JordanAFCNone (First appearance)Saudi ArabiaAFC2022QatarAFC2022MoroccoCAF2022TunisiaCAF2022EgyptCAF2018AlgeriaCAF2014GhanaCAF2022Cape VerdeCAFNone (First appearance)South AfricaCAF2010SenegalCAF2022Ivory CoastCAF2014ArgentinaCONMEBOL2022EcuadorCONMEBOL2022BrazilCONMEBOL2022ColombiaCONMEBOL2018UruguayCONMEBOL2022ParaguayCONMEBOL2010New ZealandOFC2010EnglandUEFA2022FranceUEFA2022CroatiaUEFA2022PortugalUEFA2022NorwayUEFA1998GermanyUEFA2022NetherlandsUEFA2022SpainUEFA2022BelgiumUEFA2022SwitzerlandUEFA2022AustriaUEFA1998ScotlandUEFA1998Bosnia and Herzegovina OR ItalyUEFA (playoffs)Czechia OR DenmarkUEFA (playoffs)Kosovo OR TurkeyUEFA (playoffs)Sweden OR PolandUEFA (playoffs) DR Congo OR JamaicaIntercontinental playoffsIraq OR BoliviaIntercontinental playoffs

How do the World Cup playoffs work?

UEFA playoffs

Twelve of UEFA's 16 spots were taken by the group winners from the initial format of four or five-team groups. The 12 runners-up, along with the four best UEFA Nations League group winners that finished outside of the top two in their World Cup qualifying groups, enter the playoffs.

Those 16 teams were drawn into four paths with two single-game rounds. The seeded teams will be at home in the semifinals, with a home nation for the four finals drawn in advance. The winners from each path advance to the World Cup. UEFA is the only confederation without a representative in the inter-continental playoff.

The full draw and brackets for the UEFA playoffs are detailed here.

Intercontinental playoffs

The two teams in the six-nation playoff with the highest FIFA ranking are seeded. The four unseeded teams play an effective semifinal, with the two winners progressing to face a seed apiece to decide the final two places at the World Cup.

The four-game playoff will be used as a World Cup test event and played in two venues in Mexico, with some games at Estadio Akron in Guadalajara and others at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey.

World Cup qualifying pathways

The UEFA playoff paths, like their intercontinental counterparts, were placed into Pot 4 for the group-stage draw because the individual qualifiers were not known at the time. That meant a potentially more difficult group stage for the teams that progress.

The pathways were drawn as follows:

  • UEFA Playoff A winner: Group B (Canada, Qatar, Switzerland)
  • UEFA Playoff B winner: Group F (Netherlands, Japan, Tunisia)
  • UEFA Playoff C winner: Group D (USA, Paraguay, Australia)
  • UEFA Playoff D winner: Group A (Mexico, South Africa, South Korea)

Meanwhile, the intercontinental playoff winners will be drawn into Group K and Group I:

  • FIFA Playoff 1 winner: Group K (Portugal, Uzbekistan, Colombia)
  • FIFA Playoff 2 winner: Group I (France, Senegal and Norway)

WORLD CUP DRAW BREAKDOWNS:

Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | Group E | Group F
Group G | Group H | Group I | Group J | Group K | Group L

World Cup playoffs schedule 2026

European playoffs

Pathway A

Semifinal

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 26, 20262:45 p.m.Italy 2-0 Northern IrelandNew Balance Arena (Bergamo, Italy)March 26, 20262:45 p.m.Wales 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia & Herzegovina adv. 4-3 on pensCardiff City Stadium (Cardiff, Wales)

Final

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 31, 20262:45 p.m.Bosnia & Herzegovina vs. ItalyBilino Polje Stadium (Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Pathway B

Semifinal

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 26, 20262:45 p.m.Ukraine 1-3 SwedenEstadi Ciutat de Valencia (Valencia, Spain)March 26, 20262:45 p.m.Poland 2-1 AlbaniaPGE Narodowy (Warsaw, Poland)

Final

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 31, 20262:45 p.m.Sweden vs. PolandStrawberry Arena (Stockholm, Sweden)

Pathway C

Semifinal

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 26, 202612 p.m.Turkey 1-0 RomaniaBesiktas Stadyumu (Istanbul, Turkey)March 26, 20262:45 p.m.Slovakia 3-4 Kosovo Tehelne pole (Bratislava, Slovakia)

Final

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 31, 20262:45 p.m.Kosovo vs. TurkeyPristina City Stadium (Pristina, Kosovo)

Pathway D

Semifinal

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 26, 20262:45 p.m.Denmark 4-0 North MacedoniaParken (Copenhagen, Denmark)March 26, 20262:45 p.m.Czechia 2-2 Republic of Ireland
Czechia adv. 4-3 on pensFortuna Arena (Prague-Vrsovice, Czechia)

Final

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 31, 20262:45 p.m.Czechia vs. Denmarkepet ARENA (Prague, Czechia)

Intercontinental playoffs

Pathway 1

Semifinal

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 267 p.m.New Caledonia vs. JamaicaEstadio Akron (Guadalajara)

Final

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 315 p.m.DR Congo vs. JamaicaEstadio Akron (Guadalajara)

Pathway 2

Semifinal

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 261 p.m.Bolivia vs. SurinameEstadio BBVA (Monterrey)

Final

DateTime (ET)MatchLocationMarch 3111 p.m.Iraq vs. BoliviaEstadio BBVA (Monterrey)

SN's Kyle Bonn contributed to this article

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