New Zealand has qualified for the World Cup.

In the final match of the qualification for the 2026 World Cup, the New Zealand national team defeated the New Caledonia team with a score of 3:0. Goals were scored by Michael Boxall, Costa Barbarouses, and Elijah Just.

New Zealand became the fifth country to qualify for the World Cup. In addition to it, the tournament will feature the USA, Mexico, Canada (as the hosts of the tournament), and Japan.

This will be New Zealand's third participation in the World Cup finals. Last Time it played in the tournament in 2010, where it finished third in its group, ahead of the then-world champion Italy.

New Caledonia also has chances to play in the World Cup. In 2026, it will participate in the intercontinental playoff.

Qualification cycle for the 2026 World Cup

UEFA (Europe) will receive 16 spots. The qualification in the European zone will take place from 2025 to 2026 and will consist of two rounds.

In the first round of qualification, 12 groups will play in a round-robin format from March to November 2025. 12 group winners will receive direct qualification to the final stage. Teams that finish in second place and the best group winners of the Nations League who are below second place in the group stage will participate in the playoff mini-tournaments.

The second round of qualification will include playoff mini-tournaments that will take place in March 2026. 16 teams will be divided into four playoff paths. Four winners will get spots at the World Cup.

The number of spots for other confederations is as follows: AFC (Asia) - 8, CAF (Africa) - 9, CONCACAF (North and Central America) - 3 + 3 (spots + places in playoffs), CONMEBOL (South America) - 6 + 1 (spot + place in playoffs) and OFC (Oceania) - 1 + 1 (spot + place in playoffs). There will also be two spots awarded in the intercontinental playoff.

The Final Tournament of the 2026 World Cup

The 2026 World Cup will be the first to feature 48 teams. They will be divided into 12 groups of four teams. The top two teams from each group and the eight best third-placed teams will advance to the Round of 16.

The tournament matches will be held in 16 cities: Toronto and Vancouver (Canada), Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey (Mexico), Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle (USA).

The opening match will take place on June 11, 2026, in Mexico City, while the final will be held in New York City on July 19 of the same year.

It is worth noting that Russia was excluded from the draw for the qualifying rounds for this World Cup.