{"id":562641,"date":"2026-03-25T05:10:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T05:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/562641\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T05:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T05:10:13","slug":"fifa-world-cup-qualifiers-2026-what-to-know-about-the-playoffs-what-it-means-for-the-socceroos-and-graham-arnolds-iraq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/562641\/","title":{"rendered":"FIFA World Cup qualifiers 2026: What to know about the playoffs, what it means for the Socceroos and Graham Arnold’s Iraq"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robbie Slater<\/a> suggests his great mate Graham Arnold<\/a> should one day write a book about his rollercoaster ride with Iraq’s football team.<\/p>\n

Arnold, who coached the Socceroos<\/a> to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup, is now one win away from becoming the first Australian man to lead a foreign nation on football’s grandest stage.<\/p>\n

Iraq will meet the winner of Bolivia and Suriname on April 1 (AEDT) with the victor progressing to the World Cup in June-July.<\/a><\/p>\n

Football’s new home, Stan Sport<\/a>, is the only place to watch the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, WSL, European World Cup qualifiers, J.League, NSWL and K League<\/p>\n

\"Graham<\/p>\n

Graham Arnold of Iraq speaks to the media in a post match press conference.\u00a0FIFA via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Bolivia and Suriname will first square off in Guadalupe on Friday (AEDT) for the right to play Iraq.<\/p>\n

Arnold this week welcomed his players into camp with warm hugs outside the Hilton Monterrey. It had been an ordeal just to get there.<\/p>\n

The 62-year-old had urged FIFA to postpone the intercontinental qualifier after the United States and Israel declared war on Iran.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Judiciary hands Dragons star big ban for ugly tackle<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Salah says ‘the day has come’ as superstar quits Liverpool<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Queensland rival to pounce after shock Broncos exit<\/a><\/p>\n

With Iraqi airspace closed, Arnold’s squad – dominated by players in the domestic league – had been unable to fully gather.<\/p>\n

Arnold was left stranded in the United Arab Emirates and embassy closures meant many players and staff were initially unable to obtain entry visas into Mexico.<\/p>\n

But Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs helped sort the paperwork and a private jet was arranged to get the team safely out of Iraq.<\/p>\n

NEW PODCAST! Manchester City put Arsenal on notice and a full preview of the do-or-die World Cup qualifiers live on Stan Sport<\/p>\n

“I spoke to him yesterday,” Australian football great Slater said on Stan Sport’s Added Time.<\/a><\/p>\n

“He’s not allowed to go back to Baghdad – they’ve entered his apartment – but he’s in Mexico. It is great for him but what he’s gone through, seriously… I spoke to him for a while – I’m not going to explain it – but it’s been a tough ride. It’s been tough.”<\/p>\n

Iraq have only played at one men’s World Cup – 40 years ago at the 1986 tournament in Mexico.<\/p>\n

\"Graham<\/p>\n

Graham Arnold at Education City Stadium in Doha, Qatar.\u00a0NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n

“They’re (Iraq) going to build a statue (of Arnold if they qualify),” Slater quipped.<\/p>\n

Arnold won’t be the only Australian manager watching Friday’s results with interest.<\/p>\n

Socceroos coach Tony Popovic is waiting to see who Australia will open their World Cup campaign against on June 14 (AEST) in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

It will be either Turkiye, Romania, Slovakia or Kosovo.<\/p>\n

The final six World Cup places are up for grabs over the next week across two playoff tournaments that will complete the 48-team lineup.<\/p>\n

Sixteen teams from Europe will compete for four spots, while the new intercontinental tournament in Mexico will determine the other two places.<\/p>\n

Stan Sport will show every match of the European qualifiers.<\/p>\n

“Turkiye are the clear favourite (in Path C), and that’s why I would not like them to get through. It’s a compliment,” ex-Australia captain Craig Foster said on Added Time.<\/p>\n

The Socceroos will also meet co-hosts the United States and Paraguay in Group D.<\/p>\n

\"Mauricio<\/p>\n

Mauricio Pochettino shakes hands with Tony Popovic.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

While naturally keen to find out which European opponent he will face, Popovic wasn’t losing too much sleep over it.<\/p>\n

“Whoever we play, you expect to be a very difficult opponent for the World Cup, as it should be,” Popovic said ahead of Friday night’s friendly against Cameroon in Sydney.<\/p>\n

“We’ll learn very soon… it’ll be the same for the opponent. They are not actually preparing for Australia at the moment.<\/p>\n

“They’re just trying to qualify and I’m sure they’ll do their preparation once they get through. We’ll be the same. We don’t see that as a hurdle we can’t overcome. We’ll have time to prepare.”<\/p>\n

The biggest ever World Cup – up from 32 teams in Qatar in 2022 – is being co-hosted by three nations for the first time – the United States, Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n

Four-time champion Italy is the standout name in the European playoffs as it tries to avoid the ignominy of missing out on a World Cup for a third consecutive time.<\/p>\n

\"Gennaro<\/p>\n

Gennaro Gattuso during the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifier at Nagyerdei Stadion in Debrecen.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

“It’s undeniable that there’s nervousness. Only someone without blood running through their veins wouldn’t feel it,” Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso said.<\/p>\n

Italy open their Path A campaign against Northern Ireland in Bergamo on Friday (AEDT).<\/p>\n

“I don’t think Gattuso has proven himself as a tactician – he certainly hasn’t at club level,” Foster said.<\/p>\n

“I’m surprised that he’s the Italian coach, to be honest with you. I’m sure many Italian fans are surprised by that. I would be worried if I was an Italian fan. They’re under incredible pressure.<\/p>\n

“He’s fiery, crazy… that’s pure Gattuso. You always get theatre, you always get problems, you always get volatility – when what they really need is just calmness, you know, tactics, structure.<\/p>\n

“They would be the first World Cup winner to miss three consecutive World Cups. And you’ve put all of this on the shoulders of Gattuso, that’s unbelievable.”<\/p>\n

\"Gennaro<\/p>\n

Gennaro Gattuso during the presentation of the new coach of the Italian national football team.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

New Caledonia, Suriname, Kosovo and Albania are all vying to qualify for the World Cup for the first time.<\/p>\n

There will be more European teams – 16 – than from any other continent at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Twelve have already booked their places and the final four will advance via the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Eight one-off semi-finals are followed by four finals. The winners of the finals secure qualification.<\/p>\n

The teams are made up of 12 runners-up from the group qualifying stage and four based on performances in the UEFA Nations League.<\/p>\n

The highest-ranked teams host the semi-finals. The hosts of the finals were determined by draw.<\/p>\n

Path A: Italy vs Northern Ireland, Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina.<\/p>\n

Path B: Ukraine vs Sweden, Poland vs Albania.<\/p>\n

Path C: Turkey vs Romania, Slovakia vs Kosovo.<\/p>\n

Path D: Denmark vs North Macedonia, Czech Republic vs Ireland<\/p>\n

Intercontinental playoffs<\/p>\n

There is a different format for the intercontinental playoffs, which FIFA simply calls the ‘Playoff Tournament.’ Two teams will advance from a field of six.<\/p>\n

The lineup was made up of two teams from CONCACAF (Jamaica, Suriname) and one each from Asia (Iraq), Africa (DR Congo), South America (Bolivia) and Oceania (New Caledonia).<\/p>\n

The four lowest-ranked nations play in two semi-finals. The winner advances to a final against one of the two highest-ranked teams.<\/p>\n

The winners of those matches qualify for the World Cup. The highest ranked teams were DR Congo and Iraq. Games are being staged in Guadalajara and Monterrey<\/p>\n

Path 1: New Caledonia vs. Jamaica (winner plays DR Congo)<\/p>\n

Path 2: Bolivia vs. Suriname (winner plays Iraq)<\/p>\n

When are the playoffs?<\/p>\n

The semi-finals will be played on Friday (AEDT) and the finals next Wednesday (AEDT).<\/p>\n

Who has qualified for the 2026 World Cup?<\/p>\n

Co-hosts: Canada, Mexico and United States.<\/p>\n

AFC: Australia, IR Iran, Japan, Jordan, Korea Republic, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan<\/p>\n

CAF: Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia<\/p>\n

CONCACAF: Curacao, Haiti, Panama<\/p>\n

CONMEBOL: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay<\/p>\n

OFC: New Zealand<\/p>\n

UEFA: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland<\/p>\n

\"Lionel<\/p>\n

Lionel Messi of Argentina kisses the FIFA World Cup.\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

When is the 2026 World Cup?<\/p>\n

June and July. It kicks off at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on June 12 (AEST).<\/p>\n

The final is on July 20 (AEST) at MetLife Stadium, which will be referred to as New York New Jersey Stadium during the tournament.<\/p>\n

The 82,500-capacity arena opened in 2010, replacing Giants Stadium, and serves as the home for the NFL’s New York Giants and New York Jets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robbie Slater suggests his great mate Graham Arnold should one day write a book about his rollercoaster ride…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-562641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}