A big step forward was taken on Thursday for several countries looking to book their tickets to this summer’s World Cup.
A quick reminder — 42 squads of the 48-team field are already in the biggest edition of the tournament ever, which will be co-hosted by the USA, Canada and Mexico. So that’s why Thursday’s games were so important. Now, all eyes turn to Tuesday, which is when those final six spots will be booked.
[WHEN AND WHERE: Full Schedule for 2026 FIFA World Cup]
Here are the takeaways:
1. Türkiye Puts the World (and the USA) on Notice
Of all the teams remaining in UEFA qualifying, Turkiye might be the one most other teams will want to avoid in the World Cup.
Young playmakers Arda Guler (Real Madrid) and Kenan Yildiz (Juventus) power a young Turkish attack with veteran midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu (Inter Milan) pulling the strings. Guler assisted the goal in Türkiye’s 1-0 win, which was scored by left back Ferdi Kadioglu (Brighton).
Türkiye went 4-1-1 in UEFA qualifying but found itself in the playoffs because it was paired with powerhouse Spain, which won Euro 2024. But now the Turks are one game away from solidifying its spot for the summer.
If it progresses to the World Cup on Tuesday against Slovakia, Türkiye will join Group D at the World Cup with the United States, Australia and Paraguay. The Turks – who defeated the USA last fall in a friendly – may be favored to win that group.
2. Italy Moves Closer to Qualification
Italy has failed to qualify for the last two World Cups, which is amazing after it won the Euro 2020 championship between two of the tournaments.
There was a lot of tension entering these qualifying games, which saw the Italians take on Northern Ireland on Thursday. Manager Gennaro Gattuso’s team won 2-0 thanks to goals from midfielder Sandro Tonali (AC Milan) and striker Moise Kean (Fiorentina).
Italy will now take on Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday with a chance to not just make the World Cup, but also try and actually return to its perch as among the world’s elite.
Along with missing the 2022 and 2018 tourneys altogether, their struggles go back all the way to 2010 and 2014, having failed to advance from its group on both occasions. The Azzurri’s last World Cup knockout match was when they won the title in 2006 by beating France in a penalty shootout.
3. Extra-time Double Drama; Gyokeres Shines For Sweden
Penalty shootouts are always high-stakes theatre, and we were given a treat with two matches having to be settled from the spot.
In the match between Wales and Bosnia and Herzegovina, there were plenty of top moments before we even got to penalties. In the waning moments in Cardiff, 40-year-old striker Edin Dzeko had a vintage score off a corner to level the score at 1-1 in the 86th minute. That had preceded a spectacular goal by Daniel James (Leeds United), who had opened the scoring for Wales in the 51st minute.
But once we got to penalties, Bosnia and Herzegovina took advantage. They missed their first penalty but converted the next four, while Crystal Palace’s Brennan Johnson and Nottingham Forest’s Neco Williams missed theirs for Wales – and thus dashing any hope for the Welsh returning to the big stage.
In Prague, Ireland looked to be in control of keeping their dream of the World Cup alive with the team going up 2-0 in the first half. But Czechia had other plans, as the hosts scored their first goal four minutes later before captain Ladislav Krejci (Wolves) equalized in the 86th.
Once the game reached penalties, Ireland again couldn’t close it out. The Irish were up 3-2 after three attempts, but they missed two straight penalties while Czechia converted its last two attempts to advance.
Sweden qualified for this round because of its performance in the UEFA Nations League, during which it had two elite strikers in Liverpool’s Alexander Isak and Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres.
Isak is out because of injury for these matches, so it was Gyokeres’ time to shine – and he did.
Gyokeres scored a hat trick against Ukraine, powering Sweden’s 3-0 win in Valencia, Spain. Sweden advanced in Path B of the UEFA playoffs to take on Poland next Tuesday with a trip to the World Cup on the line. It will be a great matchup of strikers with Gyokeres facing off against Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski, who scored for Poland in its 2-1 win over Albania.
4. Valiant Effort by New Caledonia
In a tournament that is already featuring several debut countries (Jordan, Cape Verde, and Curaçao), it was heartening to see another squad with big hopes and a small population try to reach the World Cup.
New Caledonia – an island nation in the South Pacific with a population of just 265,000 – gave it all they could against Jamaica in the semifinals of the FIFA intercontinental playoffs held in Mexico. Wrexham forward Bailey-Tye Cadamarteri’s goal in the 18th minute gave Jamaica (trying to reach its first World Cup since 1998) the game’s only goal, and thus setting up a date with DR Congo next Tuesday with a World Cup spot on the line.
Hats off to New Caledonia, who would be the lowest-ranked nation (No. 150) to ever play at a World Cup. The team hadn’t had a competitive match since October but still made things interesting against a more formidable Jamaican squad.
4 ½. What’s Next
The final six spots for the 48-team World Cup field will be determined on Tuesday. Four of those remaining spots will be European teams. The two other spots will be up for grabs between four intercontinental nations (Bolivia, Iraq, DR Congo and Jamaica).
Here is Tuesday’s full match schedule:
The winner of this game will join Group B (co-hosts Canada, Qatar, Switzerland). The winner’s games will be played in Toronto (vs. Canada), Los Angeles (vs. Switzerland) and Seattle (vs. Qatar).
The winner between Sweden and Poland will join the Netherlands, Japan and Tunisia in Group F. Those games will be played in Monterrey, Mexico (vs. Tunisia), Houston (vs. the Netherlands) and Arlington, Texas. (vs. Japan).
The winner of the Türkiye-Kosovo match on Tuesday will join the USA, Paraguay and Australia in Group D. Those matches will be played in Vancouver (vs. Australia), Santa Clara, Calif. (vs. Paraguay) and Los Angeles (vs. the USA).
The winner of the Denmark-Czechia match will join co-hosts Mexico, South Africa and South Korea in Group A at the World Cup. Those games will be played in Guadalajara (vs. South Korea), Atlanta (vs. South Africa) and Mexico City (vs. Mexico).
The winner of the Iraq vs. Bolivia match will join France, Senegal and Norway in Group I. Those matches will be played in Foxborough, Mass. (vs. Norway), Philadelphia (vs. France) and Toronto (vs. Senegal).
The winner of the DR Congo vs. Jamaica game will join Portugal, Uzbekistan and Colombia in Group K. Matches will be played in Houston (vs. Portugal), Guadalajara (vs. Colombia) and Atlanta (vs. Uzbekistan.)
