International qualifiers are the key to seeing your country join the world’s elite, and they’re often fiercely fought affairs. The AFC qualification system, for example, consists of a series of preliminary rounds to reduce the number of competing nations before they join higher-ranked teams in group stages. This allows emerging nations to compete with the best, while also giving established powerhouses a platform to test themselves in a variety of conditions.
In some cases, the top two teams in a group will qualify directly for the World Cup. In others, a play-off is required to fill the final two slots. The format of these play-offs varies across the world’s footballing regions. Some use a one-legged knockout, with the winning team earning direct qualification to the finals. In others, a semifinal and a two-legged final are played to decide the two qualifiers.
UEFA’s qualifying tournament is one of the most complex and exciting in the world. Most ties are played over two legs, with the winner determined by an aggregate score. Those results are then used to rank the teams, with goal difference taking priority over away goals. Where this is not enough to determine the winner, extra time and penalty shoot-outs may be introduced.
A handful of matches remain to be played in the UEFA Nations League, but the race for World Cup qualifying places has largely been decided. Six of the nine European groups have now completed their group stage, with the group winners earning the final two automatic places at the tournament. The runners-up will then progress to an inter-confederation playoff path.