International qualifiers give players the opportunity to pit their skills against teams from around the world, fostering friendship and respect among all involved. They can also help develop a wider understanding of different styles and cultures, which makes them an important part of the football world.
In Europe, the World Cup qualifying process will see teams drawn into 12 groups of four or five teams playing home-and-away round-robin matches in March and November 2025. Group winners will qualify for the World Cup, while runners-up will participate in inter-confederation play-offs.
The draw was held on Thursday with 54 nations participating. The host confederation — for this edition that’s Concacaf — receives one of the two seeded spots in the final tournament, while the remaining places will be determined through a playoff between the best three teams in the final tournament.
Pot 1 contains the top 12 teams in the FIFA World Ranking, and then the rest are divided into four groups based on the number of countries they rank higher than. The original draw regulations also prioritised groups of POs and a high-ranked fellow PO team, but FIFA has since updated the rules to remove that. It means PO teams in Pots 2, 3 and 4 could be matched with more difficult groups, including the winner of a UNL QF tie.
The Oceania qualification process began in March, with some teams not even playing their first qualifier due to their participation in UEFA’s Nations League. The winners of each of the eight groups will qualify for the World Cup, with New Zealand and the winner of a play-off between the two best runners-up gaining access to the intercontinental play-offs alongside teams from Africa, Asia and South America.