LONDON - List of countries assured of places in the 32-team field for next year’s World Cup finals in Russia after Sweden secured their spot at the expense of Italy on Monday:EUROPE
Russia (Qualified as hosts)
France
Portugal
Germany
Serbia
Poland
England
Spain
Belgium
Iceland
Switzerland
Croatia
Sweden
SOUTH AMERICA
Brazil
Uruguay
Argentina
Colombia
AFRICA
Nigeria
Egypt
Morocco
Tunisia
Senegal
CENTRAL, NORTH AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN
Mexico
Costa Rica
Panama
ASIA
Iran
Japan
South Korea
Saudi Arabia
PLAYOFFS
Second legs
Nov 14
Ireland v Denmark (0-0), Dublin
Nov 15
Australia v Honduras (0-0), Sydney
Peru v New Zealand (0-0), Lima
The field of teams that will travel to Russia for next summer's World Cup is nearly complete.
African qualifying, the European play-offs and two inter-continental play-offs take place during the November international break to complete the cycle before the draw for the finals is made in December.
Germany 5/1 favourite for the World Cup
This is the complete guide to the qualification spots, the teams that have already sealed their spot in Russia and those that could join them.
1. World Cup lineup in full
2. AFC (Asia) qualification
2a. Qualified
2b. In contention
2c. Eliminated
3. CAF (Africa) qualification
3a. Qualified
3b. In contention
3c. Eliminated
4. CONCACAF (North America) qualification
4a. Qualified
4b. In contention
4c. Eliminated
5. CONMEBOL (South America) qualification
5a. Qualified
5b. In contention
5c. Eliminated
6. OFC (Oceania) qualification
6a. Qualified
6b. In contention
6c. Eliminated
7. UEFA (Europe) qualification
7a. Qualified
7b. In contention
7c. Eliminated
THE WORLD CUP 2018 LINEUP IN FULL
Below is a list of the teams that have qualified for the World Cup in 2018 and the qualification spots still to be filled.
Country Qualification place
Russia Hosts
Iran AFC Third Round Group A winners
South Korea AFC Third Round Group A runners up
Japan AFC Third Round Group B winners
Saudi Arabia AFC Third Round Group B runners up
TBC AFC fifth place vs CONCACAF fourth place play-off
Tunisia CAF Group A winners
Nigeria CAF Group B winners
Morocco CAF Group C winners
Senegal CAF Group D winners
Egypt CAF Group E winners
Mexico CONCACAF Fifth Round first place
Costa Rica CONCACAF Fifth Round second place
Panama CONCACAF Fifth Round third place
Brazil CONMEBOL first place
Uruguay CONMEBOL second place
Argentina CONMEBOL third place
Colombia CONMEBOL fourth place
TBC CONMEBOL fifth place vs OFC first place play-off
France UEFA Group A winners
Portugal UEFA Group B winners
Germany UEFA Group C winners
Serbia UEFA Group D winners
Poland UEFA Group E winners
England UEFA Group F winners
Spain UEFA Group G winners
Belgium UEFA Group H winners
Iceland UEFA Group I winners
Switzerland UEFA second-place play-off winners
Croatia UEFA second-place play-off winners
Sweden UEFA second-place play-off winners
TBC UEFA second-place play-off winners
AFC (ASIA) QUALIFICATION
World Cup qualification in Asia is split into three rounds plus play-offs.
In the first round, the 12 teams ranked 35th-46th within the continent play in a two-legged knockout round, with the six winners advancing.
In the second round, those six teams join the teams ranked 1st-34th in eight groups of five teams that play each other home and away. The eight group winners and four best runners up advance to the third round and also qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup.
In the third round, the 12 remaining teams are drawn into two groups of six. Again, they play each other home and away and the top two in each group qualify for the World Cup finals.
The third-placed teams in each group then play each other in a two-legged play-off, with the winner qualifying for another two-legged play-off against the fourth-placed team from North and Central America (CONCACAF). The winner of that tie qualifies for the World Cup finals.
Qualified:
Country AFC qualification place
Iran Third Round Group A winners
South Korea Third Round Group A runners up
Japan Third Round Group B winners
Saudi Arabia Third Round Group B runners up
In contention:
Country Best possible AFC finish
Australia Inter-confederation play-off winners
Eliminated:
Country AFC stage reached
Syria Fourth Round
Uzbekistan Third Round
China Third Round
United Arab Emirates Third Round
Iraq Third Round
Thailand Third Round
Qatar Third Round
Palestine Second Round
Malaysia Second Round
Timor-Leste Second Round
Jordan Second Round
Kyrgyzstan Second Round
Tajikistan Second Round
Bangladesh Second Round
Hong Kong Second Round
Maldives Second Round
Bhutan Second Round
Oman Second Round
Turkmenistan Second Round
Guam Second Round
India Second Round
Singapore Second Round
Afghanistan Second Round
Cambodia Second Round
Vietnam Second Round
Chinese Taipei Second Round
Indonesia Second Round
Lebanon Second Round
Kuwait Second Round
Myanmar Second Round
Laos Second Round
North Korea Second Round
Philippines Second Round
Bahrain Second Round
Yemen Second Round
Nepal First Round
Pakistan First Round
Mongolia First Round
Macau First Round
Brunei First Round
Sri Lanka First Round
CAF (AFRICA) QUALIFICATION
World Cup qualification in Africa is split into three rounds.
The first round sees the 26 teams ranked 28th-53rd within the continent play in a two-legged knockout round, with the 13 winners advancing.
The second round follows the same format, with the 13 first-round winners joined by the teams ranked 1st-27th for a total of 40 teams. The 20 winners advance.
The third round sees those 20 teams divided into five groups of four, with each group winner qualifying for the World Cup finals.
Qualified:
Country CAF qualification place
Nigeria Third Round Group B winners
Egypt Third Round Group E winners
Senegal Third Round Group D winners
Tunisia Third Round Group A winners
Morocco Third Round Group C winners
Eliminated:
Country CAF stage reached
DR Congo Third Round
Ivory Coast Third Round
Cape Verde Third Round
Burkina Faso Third Round
South Africa Third Round
Uganda Third Round
Ghana Third Round
Gabon Third Round
Zambia Third Round
Mali Third Round
Cameroon Third Round
Algeria Third Round
Guinea Third Round
Libya Third Round
Congo Third Round
Niger Second Round
Mauritania Second Round
Namibia Second Round
Ethiopia Second Round
Chad Second Round
Comoros Second Round
Swaziland Second Round
Botswana Second Round
Burundi Second Round
Liberia Second Round
Madagascar Second Round
Kenya Second Round
Tanzania Second Round
Sudan Second Round
Rwanda Second Round
Equatorial Guinea Second Round
Mozambique Second Round
Benin Second Round
Togo Second Round
Angola Second Round
Somalia First Round
South Sudan First Round
Gambia First Round
Sao Tome & Principe First Round
Sierra Leone First Round
Lesotho First Round
Djibouti First Round
Eritrea First Round
Seychelles First Round
Guinea-Bissau First Round
Central African Republic First Round
Mauritius First Round
Malawi First Round
CONCACAF (NORTH AMERICA) QUALIFICATION
World Cup qualification in North and Central America is split into five rounds plus play-offs.
The first round sees the 14 teams ranked 22nd-35th within the continent play in a two-legged knockout round, with the seven winners advancing.
In the second round, those seven teams are joined by the 13 teams ranked ninth-20th for a total of 20 teams. They play in another two-legged knockout round, with the 10 winners advancing.
In the third round, those 10 teams are joined by the teams ranked seventh and eighth for a total of 12 teams. Again, they play in two-legged knockout ties, with the six winners going through.
The fourth round sees those six teams plus the six top-ranked teams on the continent divided into three groups of four. The teams in each group meet home and away and the top two teams in each group advance to the fifth round.
In the fifth round, the six remaining teams play home and away in one group. The top three countries qualify for the World Cup, and the fourth-place team goes into a play-off against the fifth-place team from Asia.
Qualified:
Country CONCACAF qualification place
Mexico Fifth Round first place
Costa Rica Fifth Round second place
Panama Fifth Round third place
In contention:
Country Best possible CONCACAF finish
Honduras Inter-confederation play-off winners
Eliminated:
Country CONCACAF stage reached
United States Fifth Round
Trinidad & Tobago Fifth Round
Canada Fourth Round
El Salvador Fourth Round
Haiti Fourth Round
Jamaica Fourth Round
Guatemala Fourth Round
Saint Vincent & the Grenadines Fourth Round
Curacao Third Round
Belize Third Round
Grenada Third Round
Nicaragua Third Round
Aruba Third Round
Antigua & Barbuda Third Round
Guyana Second Round
Saint Lucia Second Round
Puerto Rico Second Round
Dominica Second Round
Domincan Republic Second Round
Bermuda Second Round
Barbados Second Round
Saint Kitts & Nevis Second Round
Cuba Second Round
Suriname Second Round
Bahamas First Round
British Virgin Islands First Round
U.S. Virgin Islands First Round
Turks & Caicos Islands First Round
Anguilla First Round
Cayman Islands First Round
Montserrat First Round
CONMEBOL (SOUTH AMERICA) QUALIFICATION
World Cup qualification in South America consists of only one round.
All of the continent's 10 teams play home and away in one group phase. The top four teams qualify for the World Cup finals, while the fifth team goes into a play-off against the best team from Oceania.
Qualified:
Country CONMEBOL qualification place
Brazil First place
Uruguay Second place
Argentina Third place
Colombia Fourth place
In contention:
Country Best possible CONMEBOL finish
Peru Inter-confederation play-off winners
Eliminated:
Country CONMEBOL stage reached
Chile First Round
Paraguay First Round
Ecuador First Round
Bolivia First Round
Venezuela First Round
OFC (OCEANIA) QUALIFICATION
World Cup qualification in Oceania is split into three rounds plus a play-off. It is the only continent not guaranteed to have a team at the finals.
In the first round, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga all face each other once in a group, with the group winner advancing to the second round.
The second round sees eight teams - seven new sides plus the first-round winner - split into two groups of four. The top three teams in each group reach the third round, and the top two in each group advance to the knockout stage of the OFC Nations Cup.
In the third round, the six remaining teams are divided into two groups of three. The teams in each group face each other home and away and the winners of each group advance to a final play-off tie.
The winners of the two-legged play-off tie face the fifth place team from South America over two legs for a place at the finals.
Qualified: None.
In contention:
Country Best possible OFC finish
New Zealand Inter-confederation play-off winners
Eliminated:
Country OFC stage reached
Solomon Islands Fourth Round
New Caledonia Third Round
Fiji Third Round
Tahiti Third Round
Papua New Guinea Third Round
Samoa Second Round
Vanuatu Second Round
American Samoa First Round
Cook Islands First Round
Tonga First Round
UEFA (EUROPE) QUALIFICATION
World Cup qualification in Europe consists of one round plus play-offs.
Initially, the 52 countries affiliated with UEFA (excluding hosts Russia) were drawn into seven groups of six teams and two groups of five teams. That later became nine groups of six teams when Kosovo and Gibraltar gained FIFA membership.
The winners of each group qualify for the World Cup finals.
The nine runners up are then ranked by the points they have earned against the teams ranked first to fifth in their group. The top eight teams based on that criteria are drawn into four home-and-away knockout ties, with the winners qualifying for the finals.
Qualified:
Country UEFA qualification place
Russia World Cup hosts
France Group A winners
Portugal Group B winners
Germany Group C winners
Serbia Group D winners
Poland Group E winners
England Group F winners
Spain Group G winners
Belgium Group H winners
Iceland Group I winners
Switzerland Play-off winners
Croatia Play-off winners
Sweden Play-off winners
In contention:
Country Best possible UEFA finish
Republic of Ireland Play-off winners
Denmark Play-off winners
Eliminated:
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Country UEFA stage reached
Italy Play-off
Greece Play-off
Northern Ireland Play-off
Netherlands First Round
Slovakia First Round
Wales First Round
Ukraine First Round
Bulgaria First Round
Austria First Round
Turkey First Round
Cyprus First Round
Albania First Round
Estonia First Round
Israel First Round
Romania First Round
Armenia First Round
Czech Republic First Round
Norway First Round
Azerbaijan First Round
Hungary First Round
Belarus First Round
Luxembourg First Round
San Marino First Round
Malta First Round
Macedonia First Round
Liechtenstein First Round
Finland First Round
Kosovo First Round
Faroe Islands First Round
Andorra First Round
Latvia First Round
Gibraltar First Round
Georgia First Round
Moldova First Round
Lithuania First Round
Kazakhstan First Round
Montenegro First Round
Slovenia First Round
Scotland First Round
Bosnia & Herzegovina First Round
