Crunch Time: World Cup Qualifying Down to the Wire for Arab Nations

posted on: Oct 1, 2025

By Jake Harris / Arab America Contributing Writer

The 48-team World Cup, set to be in the United States in June 2026, provides an unprecedented opportunity in qualifying. Nations that would typically never be seen qualifying have a chance to make history. Three Arab nations have officially qualified for the tournament. Of these nations making their debut, Jordan. Jordan qualified for their first World Cup on June 5th following a 3-0 victory over Oman. Morocco and Tunisia are returning participants from Qatar 2022. Morocco breezed through the African qualification, riding on the momentum of their incredible run to the semi-finals in Qatar. In December, the final group stage draw will take place at the Kennedy Center in Florida, determining who and where the teams that qualify will play in the first stage of the tournament. Arab nations face a final push to make the field of 48. 

Asian Qualifying

In Asia, everything is up in the air. Jordan’s qualification has moved Iraq into the fourth round of qualifying. The fourth round consists of the teams that finished 3rd and 4th in their groups of 6 teams in the third round of qualifying. It is one final opportunity for these teams to get a chance at qualification.

The six teams are split into two groups of three, with each team playing one another in a round robin format. The winners of the two groups head to the World Cup. The team in 3rd is eliminated. The teams in the 2nd will go head-to-head with each other for a spot in what’s called the inter-continental playoff. The inter-continental playoff will consist of six teams from all the confederations of FIFA that will compete for the final spots in the tournament. Five out of the six nations in the 4th round of Asian qualifiers are Arab nations. Group A consists of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman. Group B consists of Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Indonesia. 

Qatar looks to return to their second successive World Cup after making their debut as hosts in 2022. Striker Almoez Ali leads Asian qualifying in goals with 12. Saudi Arabia is trying to make their third consecutive World Cup after missing out in 2010 and 2014. Iraq looks to make its first World Cup appearance since 1986 after near misses in the previous few cycles. Oman will try to keep their qualification hopes alive following a last-minute goal that eliminated Palestine in the previous round. The United Arab Emirates will aim for its first World Cup appearance since 1990. 

Qualification Permutations

​The fourth round will be hosted in Qatar and Saudi Arabia respectively, drawing some criticism as the remaining nations see it as an unfair competitive advantage.

African Qualifying

In the realm of African qualification, multiple Arab countries are on the verge of, or still have a chance of qualifying. Algeria leads their group, which automatically guarantees a spot if they finish in 1st. Algeria simply needs to beat Somalia, one of the lowest-ranked teams in Africa, to clinch qualification. It would be their first World Cup since 2014. 

Teams Who Still Can Qualify

Libya is currently third in their group, but they only trail second-placed Cameroon by a single point with two matches remaining. If Libya were to finish second in their group, they would have a possible chance at the next round of qualifying. This is based on who the four best second-place finishers out of the nine groups of countries are. Libya’s final two matches are against Cape Verde and Mauritius. 

Sudan faces an outside chance of reaching the next round as they sit in 3rd place, 4 points behind second place. Their final two matches are against Mauritania, who are already eliminated, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The DRC currently sits in second place. If they were to beat Togo, it would eliminate Sudan. This is due to the gap remaining at 4 points even if Sudan were to win their match against Mauritania. Only 3 points would be left to gain for Sudan. 

Egypt is assured of a top-two finish and is almost certain to qualify directly. It would send legendary player Mohamed Salah to his second World Cup.

The potential is there for at least 4 Arab countries to qualify for the World Cup in 2026. The tournament is going on with the political background of tensions between the Arab world and the hosting United States in relation to Gaza, as well as the state department’s pressure on the European confederation not to ban Israel from the tournament.

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