The final six places in the 2026 World Cup will be determined over the next week as part of the qualification playoffs.
The FIFA playoffs feature New Caledonia, Jamaica, DR Congo, Bolivia, Suriname and Iraq. The six teams will play a tournament-style format to determine two of the qualifiers. DR Congo and Iraq are the top two seeds, which allows them to advance directly to their respective pathway’s final.
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The UEFA playoffs will feature Italy, Northern Ireland, Wales, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine, Sweden, Poland, Albania, Türkiye, Romania, Slovakia, Kosovo, Denmark, North Macedonia, Czechia and Ireland. The 16 European teams will be part of a mini-bracket featuring a semifinal and final for each individual path.
The 16 nations taking part in the UEFA playoffs have been drawn into four separate paths. Each pathway features two semifinals and one final. Each match is single elimination.
The playoffs begin Thursday and the final day of the playoff qualifiers will take place Tuesday.
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Follow along with Yahoo Sports for all of Thursday’s playoff action:
Live7 updates
Yahoo Sports Staff
Türkiye has had the better of the chances, including Arda Güler’s shot from the top of the box that narrowly missed the upper-right hand corner, but there’s nothing to show for it so far.
Romania is keeping numbers behind the ball and has proven difficult to break down. It’ll be up to Güler and others to find a way to unlock the visitors — and hope they don’t concede on the counter, which could really spell trouble.
Arda Güler (8) and Türkiye have yet to find a way to break down Romania in their UEFA World Cup qualifying Path C semifinal. (Photo by YASIN AKGUL / AFP via Getty Images)
(YASIN AKGUL via Getty Images)
Yahoo Sports Staff
After some brilliant 1-on-1 play, Kenan Yildiz’s dangerous cross found Güler inside the box, but the Real Madrid man couldn’t convert Türkiye’s best chance so far. He’ll want that one back.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Romania looked to have a dangerous chance when Daniel Bîrligea cut the ball back across the box and Vlad Dragomir hit the cross bar with his finish, but the flag was up for offside. Bîrligea hadn’t returned to an onside position when his keeper Ionuț Radu played a long ball forward.
Still, a shot across the bow of the hosts Türkiye, who have been the better side through the first quarter of the match.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Romanian midfielder Vlad Dragomir was booked in the 19th minute for pulling down Turkish attacker and Real Madrid star Arda Güler, who had broken free near midfield.
Yahoo Sports Staff
Türkiye: Ugurcan Çakir; Mert Müldür, Samet Akaydin, Abdülkerim Bardakci, Ferdi Kadioglu; Ismail Yüksek, Hakan Çalhanoglu; Baris Alper Yilmaz, Arda Güler, Kenan Yildiz; Kerem Aktürkoglu.
Romania: Ionut Radu; Andrei Ratiu, Radu Dragusin, Andrei Burca, Nicusor Bancu; Razvan Marin, Ianis Hagi, Vlad Dragomir; Dennis Man, Daniel Bîrligea, Valentin Mihaila
Yahoo Sports Staff
Yahoo Sports Staff
Hello and welcome to Yahoo Sports’ live coverage of Thursday’s World Cup playoffs. First up, it’s Türkiye vs. Romania at 1 p.m. ET in Istanbul. The winner will play the winner of Slovakia vs. Kosovo, which begins at 3:45 p.m. ET.
Thursday’s schedule
FIFA playoff
Pathway 1: New Caledonia vs. Jamaica – 10 p.m. ET (FS1)
-Winner plays DR Congo
Pathway 2: Bolivia vs. Suriname – 7 p.m. ET (FS1)
-Winner plays Iraq
UEFA playoffs
Path A: Italy vs. Northern Ireland – 3:45 p.m. ET
Path A: Wales vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina – 3:45 p.m. ET (FS1)
Path B: Ukraine vs. Sweden – 3:45 p.m. ET
Path B: Poland vs. Albania – 3:45 p.m. ET (FS2)
Path C: Türkiye vs. Romania – 1 p.m. ET (FS2)
Path C: Slovakia vs. Kosovo – 3:45 p.m. ET
Path D: Denmark vs. North Macedonia – 3:45 p.m. ET
Path D: Czechia vs. Ireland – 3:45 p.m. ET
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The six qualifiers out of these playoffs will join the 48-team field for this summer’s World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
2026 World Cup playoff schedulePathway 1
March 26, 2026: New Caledonia vs. Jamaica – 10 p.m. ET (FS1)
March 31, 2026: DR Congo vs. New Caledonia/Jamaica winner – 5 p.m. ET (FS1)
The winner of Pathway 1 will be a part of Group K with Portugal, Uzbekistan and Colombia.
Pathway 2
March 26, 2026: Bolivia vs. Suriname – 7 p.m. ET (FS1)
March 31, 2026: Iraq vs. Bolivia/Suriname winner – 11 p.m. ET (FS1)
The winner of Pathway 2 will be a part of Group I with France, Senegal and Norway.
UEFA Path A bracket
March 26, 2026: Italy vs. Northern Ireland – 3:45 p.m. ET
March 26, 2026: Wales vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina – 3:45 p.m. ET (FS1)
March 31, 2026: Wales/Bosnia and Herzegovina winner vs. Italy/Northern Ireland winner – 3:45 p.m. ET
The winner of UEFA Path A will be a part of Group B with Canada, Qatar and Switzerland.
UEFA Path B bracket
March 26, 2026: Ukraine vs. Sweden – 3:45 p.m. ET
March 26, 2026: Poland vs. Albania – 3:45 p.m. ET (FS2)
March 31, 2026: Ukraine/Sweden winner vs. Poland/Albania winner – 3:45 p.m. ET
The winner of UEFA Path B will be a part of Group F with the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia.
UEFA Path C bracket
March 26, 2026: Türkiye vs. Romania – 1 p.m. ET (FS2)
March 26, 2026: Slovakia vs. Kosovo – 3:45 p.m. ET
March 31, 2026: Slovakia/Kosovo winner vs. Türkiye/Romania winner – 3:45 p.m. ET
The winner of UEFA Path C will be a part of Group D with the United States, Paraguay and Australia.
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UEFA Path D bracket
March 26, 2026: Denmark vs. North Macedonia – 3:45 p.m. ET
March 26, 2026: Czechia vs. Ireland – 3:45 p.m. ET
March 31, 2026: Czechia/Ireland winner vs. Denmark/North Macedonia winner – 3:45 p.m. ET
The winner of UEFA Path D will be a part of Group A with Mexico, South Africa and South Korea.