2026 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL)
The South American section of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification will act as qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup to be held in Canada, the United States and Mexico for national teams who are members of South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL). A total of 6+1⁄3 slots (6 direct slots and 1 inter-confederation play-off slot) in the final tournament are available for CONMEBOL teams.[1]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | September 2023 – September 2025 |
| Teams | 10 (from 1 confederation) |
Format
On 22 August 2022, the CONMEBOL sent a request to FIFA asking to keep the current qualification format that has been used since the 1998 FIFA World Cup Qualifications in South America.[2][3][4] This was confirmed, with the first games of the qualifiers tentatively to be played in March or June 2023.[5][6][7]
On 27 February 2023, CONMEBOL president Alejandro Domínguez announced that the qualifiers would start in September 2023,[8][9] which was ratified by the CONMEBOL Council in the run-up to the 73rd FIFA Congress held on 16 March in Kigali, Rwanda.[10][11]
The qualification structure will remain the same as in previous editions, despite the increase of slots from 4.5 to 6.5 for CONMEBOL teams. The ten teams play in a league of home-and-away round-robin format, with the match schedule being the same as that used in the previous edition.[12]
Prior to the commencement of the qualification competition, Ecuador have been deducted 3 points for falsifying birth documents for Byron Castillo in the previous World Cup qualification cycle.[13]
Entrants
All 10 national teams from CONMEBOL will enter qualification.
| Team | December 2022 FIFA World Rankings[14] |
|---|---|
 Brazil | 1 |
 Argentina | 2 |
 Uruguay | 16 |
 Colombia | 17 |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Peru | 21 |
 Chile | 31 |
 Ecuador | 41 |
 Paraguay | 46 |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Venezuela | 55 |
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Bolivia | 82 |
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | |
|
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argentina |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Qualification for 2026 FIFA World Cup | — | ||||||||||
| 2 | Bolivia |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||||||||
| 3 | Brazil |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||||||||
| 4 | Chile |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||||||||
| 5 | Colombia |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||||||||
| 6 | Paraguay |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||||||||
| 7 | Peru |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to inter-confederation play-offs | — | ||||||||||
| 8 | Uruguay |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||||||||
| 9 | Venezuela |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | |||||||||||
| 10 | Ecuador |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3[lower-alpha 1] | — |
Notes:
- Ecuador were deducted 3 points for falsifying birth documents for Byron Castillo in the previous World Cup qualification cycle.[15]
Matches
Matchday 1
Matchday 2
Matchday 3
Matchday 4
Matchday 5
Matchday 6
Matchday 7
Matchday 8
Matchday 9
Matchday 10
Matchday 11
Matchday 12
Matchday 13
Matchday 14
Matchday 15
Matchday 16
Matchday 17
References
- "Unanimous decision expands FIFA World Cup to 48 teams from 2026". FIFA. 10 January 2017. Archived from the original on 10 January 2017.
- "Conselho da Conmebol solicita à Fifa que mantenha formato atual das Eliminatórias para 2026". ge (in Portuguese). globo.com. 22 August 2022. Archived from the original on 23 August 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- "CONMEBOL's petition for the 2026 World Cup that could change FIFA's entire plans". Bolavip. 22 August 2022. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- "Países sudamericanos pedirán a la FIFA mantener el formato de las Eliminatorias" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 22 August 2022. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
- "Conmebol confirmó fecha para el inicio de las Eliminatorias 2026". Bolavip (in Spanish). 4 October 2022. Archived from the original on 16 October 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- Verdezoto, Kevin (8 December 2022). "Eliminatorias Conmebol iniciarían en junio del 2023; primera fecha FIFA sería en marzo" (in Spanish). Ecuavisa. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- "Eliminatorias 2026: ¿cuándo arranca la clasificatoria sudamericana?" (in Spanish). Futbolred. 28 December 2022. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- "Eliminatorias Sudamericanas iniciarán entre septiembre y octubre" (in Spanish). Olé. 27 February 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- "Alejandro Domínguez confirmó que las Eliminatorias comenzarán en septiembre" (in Spanish). Directv Sports. 27 February 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- "El Consejo de Conmebol aprobó por unanimidad el inicio de las Eliminatorias en septiembre" (in Spanish). Doble Amarilla. 15 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- "Conmebol definió el calendario para las Eliminatorias rumbo al Mundial 2026" (in Spanish). América Televisión. 15 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- "El calendario de partidos para las Eliminatorias Sudamericanas" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- "The CAS confirms the eligibility of the player Byron Castillo (Ecuador) but imposes sanctions against the Ecuadorian Football Federation for a violation of the FIFA regulations" (PDF). Court of Arbitration for Sport. 8 November 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- "FIFA Men's Ranking – October 2022 (FIFA)". FIFA.com. 6 October 2022. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020.
- "The CAS confirms the eligibility of the player Byron Castillo (Ecuador) but imposes sanctions against the Ecuadorian Football Federation for a violation of the FIFA regulations" (PDF). Court of Arbitration for Sport. 8 November 2022.