How do the 2026 World Cup play-offs work? Dates, venues and format

Wales have been drawn against Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup qualification play-offs.

A total of 48 sides will compete at this summer's World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America.

With less than three months until the tournament begins, 42 teams have confirmed their place through each confederation's own qualification process, leaving six more spots at the World Cup up for grabs.

Four of those sides will come from UEFA - the European confederation - while the other two will be from the rest of the world. Here's how the qualification process works, with full details on all the games.

When are the World Cup qualification play-offs for UEFA sides and how do they work?

Italy beckons for Northern Ireland (Image credit: Getty Images)

There will be four 'paths' of semi-finals and finals that will all be played during this international break. All eight semi-finals take place tonight, with the finals on Tuesday.

The 16 teams competing in the play-offs are made up of countries who finished second in their qualifying groups, plus the four next best sides from the last round of the Nations League.

The nations were seeded into three pots based on FIFA world rankings, while pot four was made up of the four sides who progressed via the Nations League.

The 16 teams were then split into four paths for a total of eight one-legged semi-finals, with the winners of each of tonight's games going on to their respective finals (one for each path). Teams from pots one and two are at home in the semi-finals.

The draw is as follows, with the asterisk (*) indicating that the winning side will be the hosts for that path's final.

• Path A
  • Wales vs Bosnia and Herzegovina*
  • Italy vs Northern Ireland
• Path B
  • Ukraine vs Sweden*
  • Poland vs Albania
• Path C
  • Slovakia vs Kosovo*
  • Turkey vs Romania
• Path D
  • Czech Republic vs Republic of Ireland*
  • Denmark vs North Macedonia

When are the inter-confederation World Cup qualification play-offs?

Jamaica are one of six sides who get a final chance to make it to the World Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)

The inter-confederation play-offs will also be held during this international break, with Bolivia facing Suriname at 10pm on Thursday UK time and New Caledonia taking on Jamaica five hours later. All the games will be hosted in Mexico, at Guadalajara's Estadio Akron and Monterrey's Estadio BBVA.

Six sides will take part in the inter-confederation play-offs. AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONMEBOL (South America) and OFC (Oceania) are each represented by one team, while CONCACAF (North America, Central America and the Caribbean) will have two representatives.

There are two paths, with the winner of each path earning qualification to the World Cup. The two highest-ranked sides - that's DR Congo and Iraq - progress straight to the two finals, while the other four teams will play in a single semi-final per path.

The paths have been drawn as follows:

• Path A
  • New Caledonia vs Jamaica
    • Winner faces DR Congo in the Path A final
• Path B
  • Bolivia vs Suriname
    • Winner faces Iraq in the Path B final

Which sides have already qualified for the World Cup?

England were the first European side to qualify for the World Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)

The four UEFA play-off winners and the two inter-confederation play-off winners will join the following sides at the World Cup this summer:

• Hosts
  • Canada
  • Mexico
  • United States
• AFC
  • Australia
  • Iran
  • Japan
  • Jordan
  • Qatar
  • Saudi Arabia
  • South Korea
  • Uzbekistan
• CAF
  • Algeria
  • Cape Verde
  • Egypt
  • Ghana
  • Ivory Coast
  • Morocco
  • Senegal
  • South Africa
  • Tunisia
• CONCACAF
  • Curacao
  • Haiti
  • Panama
• CONMEBOL
  • Argentina
  • Brazil
  • Colombia
  • Ecuador
  • Paraguay
  • Uruguay
• OFC
  • New Zealand
• UEFA
  • Austria
  • Belgium
  • Croatia
  • England
  • France
  • Germany
  • Netherlands
  • Norway
  • Portugal
  • Scotland
  • Spain
  • Switzerland