A Profile of Every Arab Nation That Has Qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup

posted on: Nov 19, 2025

By Jake Harris / Arab America Contributing Writer

The final draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup takes place at the Kennedy Center, Washington DC on December 5th. The 48 qualified teams will be placed at random into 12 groups of 4 teams, each group will play a round robin format of 3 matches against one another. All first and second place teams in each group will advance to the knockout stage of the tournament. The 8 highest performing 3rd place teams will also advance to the last 32.

Qualified Arab Nations

7 Arab Countries have clinched qualification with two nations that can still qualify.

Algeria

Algeria are making their first World Cup appearance since the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. In this tournament they were eliminated at the Round of 16 stage in extra time at the hands of Germany, who later went on to win the tournament. It was their second consecutive qualification after missing out in the previous four tournaments. Algeria’s 2018 World Cup qualification campaign was a tremendous disappointment, They started off their campaign fast with a 7-0 win against Tanzania, but once they started to face higher competition the wheels fell off. 2022 was a huge improvement but Algeria still fell short of the tournament in Qatar. They lost a playoff match to Cameroon. This cycle of qualification has been dominant for Algeria, led by captain Riyad Mahrez, they will return to the tournament hoping to draw a favorable group to open up a path to a deep run.

Egypt

Egypt are making their first World Cup appearance since 2018 in Russia. This is following a drought that lasted from 1994-2018. Going into that World Cup, Egypt were considered a dark horse team that could be a threat to Russia in Group A. Egypt have one of the best players in the World in Mohamed Salah playing for them. Unfortunately for Egypt, their 2018 World Cup campaign was a dud. They lost all three of their matches getting eliminated in the group stage. The last match was particularly disappointing, Saudi Arabia had lost 5-0 to Russia and 1-0 to Uruguay in their first two matches, despite Egypt being heavy favorites, Saudi Arabia made sure that the Egyptian team was winless at the tournament. The new formatting allows Egypt to have more leeway as they can still advance in the tournament if they were to finish lower in the group standings.

Jordan

Jordan qualified for their first World Cup ever this year on June 5th, 2025. A historic moment for the nation as they were incredibly impressive in qualifying. They finished one point above Iraq to come second in qualifying only behind Asian powerhouse South Korea. They are one of the few debutants making their first appearance under the new 48 team format. Just making the tournament will be seen as an incredible achievement even if they have a difficult time this summer. 

Morocco

Morocco’s historic 2022 World Cup run to the semifinals was the most successful ever by an Arab country at the tournament. Drawn into a group with Belgium, Canada, and Croatia, Morocco were considered a team that had the ability to advance but it would be far from a guarantee. Belgium and Croatia were the favorites to advance, as both had been far in the 2018 World Cup.

Not only did Morocco advance, they won the group, shocking favorites Belgium with a 2-0 win. In the last 16 stage, Morocco and Spain went 120 minutes with no goals. Morocco won a penalty shootout to advance to the Quarterfinal where they would face another Iberian powerhouse in Portugal. They would go on to stun Portugal in the Quarterfinals winning 1-0 after scoring right before halftime. Morocco became the first African nation to reach the semifinals of the World Cup. Morocco’s run came to an end in the Semi-Final as France defeated Morocco 2-0. Morocco’s 2026 qualifying campaign went smoothly, They have won their last 10 games if you count friendlies (exhibitions) and World Cup qualifying. Morocco will compete in the FIFA Arab Cup in December, a tournament exclusively between Arab nations. 

Qatar

Qatar became the smallest country to ever host the World Cup in 2022, it was also their first appearance at the tournament. This time there was no automatic qualification, Qatar have now reached back to back World Cups and will look to improve on their performance in the 2022 World Cup. In their own tournament, Qatar majorly struggled against the talent of the other teams in their group, losing all 3 matches. Qatar have been in the ascendancy in Asian soccer for quite a while now, winning the AFC Asian Cup prior to them hosting the World Cup. 

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia are making their third consecutive World Cup appearance and 4th appearance in the last 5 editions of the tournament. They have failed to advance in the tournament past the group stage in the last two attempts. In 2022 they did win their opening match against eventual winners Argentina. The game will go down as one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history. Saudi Arabia are continuing to build themselves up as a soccer nation domestically in preparation for them to eventually host the tournament in 2034. 

Tunisia