FIFA announces CanMNT will automatically qualify for 2026 World Cup

The FIFA Council approved the Annual Report 2022 on Tuesday, and with that confirmed several pieces of information relating to club and international football over the coming years.

As was expected, FIFA confirmed that the three host nations for the 2026 World Cup — Canada, the United States, and Mexico — will qualify automatically for the finals. With the tournament being expanded from 32 teams to a much larger 48, Concacaf will now have six allocated spots to qualify, including those three. That leaves three remaining for the other Concacaf nations as they look to represent their countries closer to home.

Automatic qualification is important because it means their spots are secured, but is also puts an increased importance on playing competitive games in the months and years leading up to that tournament. Further information on World Cup Qualifying for Concacaf, without those three nations, will be announced in due course.

On the club side of things, Concacaf will now have four representatives at the newly-expanded Club World Cup, starting in 2025. The decision has been made to expand that tournament from 24 to 32 teams, with the North American federation allocated four spots. This could be of particular intrigue to fans of the Canadian Premier League, as no club from the league has qualified for that competition yet.

How those four spots are decided remains to be determined.

FIFA also shared that the hosts for the 2027 Women’s World Cup will be selected in the first half of next year, the 2030 men’s World Cup hosts will be selected a few months later, and the winning bid for the 2031 Women’s World Cup will be selected in the first half of 2025.