All but six of the nations who will be represented at the 2026 FIFA World Cup have booked their spot, following the conclusion of the UEFA and CONCACAF group stages. All that remains now is four European playoff winners and two winners of the FIFA playoffs to claim their place in the competition next spring, before the biggest World Cup in history gets underway in Mexico City on June 11th.
The final matchdays had no shortage of drama across the continents, with late goals and excitement wherever you looked. There were four storylines that stuck out from the rest, however.
Ireland needed to win both of their remaining games, at home to Portugal and away to Hungary, to have any chance of qualifying, and they did just that. A 2-0 win versus Portugal got them going on Thursday, with two goals from striker Troy Parrott and a red card for Cristiano Ronaldo. Then in Budapest on Sunday, they found themselves 2-1 down with just over 10 minutes to play. But Parrott scored his second of the game after 80 minutes, then completed the comeback and his hat-trick with practically the last kick of the game to win it 3-2 and kick Hungary out of the playoff spot. Ireland will now face the Czech Republic in their playoff semi-final.
Tuesday night’s final CONCACAF matches saw Haiti qualify for the first time since 1974, with a 2-0 home win against El Salvador to clinch top spot. Qualifying on Tuesday night alongside Haiti was Curacao, who will be represented at the World Cup Finals for the first time in their history. All they needed was a draw in their final match against Jamaica and they managed to hold their opponents out for 90 minutes to for a scoreless draw.
Curacaoan fans had to endure a nail-biting end to the match, with Jamaican striker Bailey Cadamarteri hitting the post with just a few minutes remaining. Then, Jamaica were awarded a penalty in stoppage time, but VAR overruled the on-field decision of the referee and waved away the penalty. Curacao are, as it stands, the smallest nation represented at the World Cup, with a population of just over 155,000. For context, that’s less than half the population of Etobicoke.
But arguably the most dramatic qualification of all was Scotland’s, who defeated Denmark 4-2 in Glasgow to send them to the World Cup for the first time since 1998. Scotland owe Belarus a huge amount for their part to play in the qualification process, after they secured a 2-2 draw in Copenhagen on the second-last matchday. Not many would have given the Belarussian a chance in that one, as they had not gotten a single point in any other qualification matches and had been beaten 6-0 by Denmark just a month prior. That result gave Scotland a chance to qualify automatically if they could beat Denmark in the final match, and they did just that. Scotland produces three world-class goals in a back-and-forth match, sealed by a Kenny McLean strike from his own half in added time to put the game to bed and send the entire nation into raptures.
Before the final two games I spoke to Mostyn Findlater, who was optimistic about Scotland’s chances to qualify, and his faith was well-founded. “It’s probably the best game I’ve ever watched live … I was screaming like a little girl when Kenny McLean scored,” he said. Findlater, along with many other young Scots, will now get the chance to see their nation play on the biggest stage for the first time. “I can’t wait for next summer to make more memories, I’ve already got one from the Denmark game that I will remember for the rest of my life,” he said. He managed to capture the moment McLean’s goal hit the net on video.
The qualification still hasn’t sunk in for Scotland fan Calum MacKenzie. “I don’t think its actually registered that [Scotland] are going to the World Cup. It doesn’t feel like a thing that the Scotland football team do,” he said. MacKenzie is even thinking about putting his life on hold to witness history in North America. “I’m considering sacking off my engineering placement next summer to go to America,” he said.
The draw to determine the groups at the 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to take place on December 5th, and will be followed by the final playoffs in the spring before the highly anticipated summer of football finally gets underway.
No comments so far.
Be first to leave comment below.