World Cup qualifiers analysis: 6 teams are expected to advance, Italy may fall into the playoffs

This week begins, a two-week national team match day, and various continents are continuing the World Cup qualifiers in a intensive manner. Among them, 13 teams have qualified for the World Cup main competition. In the past two weeks, 6 teams are expected to advance, and traditional giant Italy may fall into the play-offs again. The 2026 World Cup is jointly organized by the United States, Canada and Mexico. The final is scheduled at the New York Metropolitan Stadium, with a total of 48 teams participating in the main competition. At present, in addition to the host three countries that automatically advance, there are 10 teams that advance ahead of schedule. Asia has four regular World Cup players, Japan, South Korea, Australia and Iran, as well as Uzbek and Jordan, which were shortlisted for the first time, South America has two top players, Argentina and Brazil, Ecuador, and Oceania has New Zealand. In addition, New Caledonia, from Oceania, became the first team to participate in the Intercontinental Playoffs.

In the past two weeks, World Cup qualifiers have been held on various continents one after another. Oceania has completed all competitions, resulting in a main competition and a playoff spot. North America enters the final stage of the group stage, with 12 teams divided into three groups, the top ranked directly to the World Cup, and the two best group rankings will be qualified for the Intercontinental play-off. Asia ended the third stage of the group stage, with 6 teams advanced early, and the fourth stage of the group stage will only be held in October, resulting in 2 direct promotion places and 1 intercontinental play-off place. There are 10 teams in South America, using the traditional double-loop league, Argentina, Ecuador and Brazil have advanced ahead of schedule. In the past two weeks, South America will complete the remaining two rounds, and all the qualifiers will end, and 3 direct promotion places and 1 intercontinental play-off spot will be generated.

From the standings, Uruguay and Paraguay, fourth-placed, both have 24 points, Colombia has 22 points, Venezuela has 18 points, Bolivia has 17 points, Peru has 12 points, and Chile has 10 points. Chile is the only team to be eliminated early, and the team that has scored 25 points will definitely be able to advance.

Therefore, Uruguay, Paraguay and Colombia can lock in the last three direct quotas as long as they win one more game. It is expected that Peru, which is much behind in points, will follow Chile to eliminate, while Venezuela and Bolivia are competing for a playoff spot, both teams have to face Colombia, and they meet Argentina and Brazil respectively. The opponents are both difficult, while Venezuela has a 1-point advantage.

Africa may also produce teams that advance early. All teams are divided into 9 groups, and the top ranked directly advances to the World Cup, and the 4 best second place will compete for 1 intercontinental play-off spot. All group competitions will be completed in September and October, and the African regional play-off will be completed in November.

From the perspective of the standings, Egypt in Group A, South Africa in Group C and Morocco in Group E have established a great lead. After having the opportunity to complete these two weeks of competition, you can advance in advance. Algeria in Group G, Tunisia in Group H and Ghana in Group I have not had enough leads, and there is little chance of advancing in September.

The last one is Europe. Due to the influence of the UEFA Nations League and the simple European competition system, many teams did not start their first World Cup qualifiers until this week. There are 16 places in Europe, and there are no places in the intercontinental play-offs. All teams are divided into 12 groups, of which 6 groups have 4 teams, 6 groups have 5 teams, and 6 groups of 4 teams have only started the first round of the game in the past two weeks. The top spots in 12 groups will directly advance to the World Cup, and the four teams with better performance in 12 groups and the UEFA League will generate the last 4 places through the European play-offs. Among the six groups that have not started yet, Germany in Group A, France in Group D, Spain in Group E, and Portugal in Group F are all familiar traditional wealthy families. It is worth noting that Sweden in Group B has the Premier League King Isaac, Arsenal center Tzekelish, Tottenham's Kulusevsky, and Newcastle's Ellanga, forming a top-heavy and uneven lineup. Among the six groups that have already started, the Netherlands, which has two games in Group G and England, which has one game in Group K, are both top giants that have maintained a complete victory, and it should be no difficulty in advancing. Although Belgium, which has two games less in Group J, has won a draw away, but due to the uneven performance of opponents in the same group, the chances of advancing are also quite high.

From the perspective of the match system, the European region is very simple. At the same time, because of the small number of teams in the group, any loss or even a draw may have a great impact. Italy in Group I is the best example. It defeated Norway three goals in the first game, and could not get more goal difference in the weak Moldova in the second game, resulting in Spaletti being dismissed quickly. Gattuso was ordered to take over the coach's seal in the face of danger and soon made his debut.

Since Italy fell behind Norway in one game in less than the game and was also significantly behind the goal difference by 12 goals, if you want to qualify for direct access, you can only hope to defeat Norway at home in the last round, and at the same time you have to get a large number of goal difference in the weak team, which is quite difficult. Perhaps, Italy is going to fall into the playoffs again. In the first two World Cups, Italy was eliminated in the European playoffs, resulting in missing the competition in a row. Now, the same story has appeared in front of the Apennines football again.

In the past two weeks, South America will have three places to advance to the World Cup, and Africa may also produce three teams. As for Asia, North America and Europe, there will be no new promotion teams. The group stage lottery ceremony that everyone is concerned about is expected to be held on December 5.