WORLD CUP 2026

PLAYOFFS MARCH 2026

The Playoffs took place recently to decide the final 6 teams to qualify for World Cup 2026 with 2 Inter Continental pathways and 4 European pathways.

The semi finals took place on 26th March with the finals on 31st March 2026.

Intercontinental Pathway 1

These playoffs took place in Guadalajara , Mexico

On 26th March Jamacia beat New Caledonia 1-0 thanks to a goal from Bailey Cadamarteri of Wrexham , the son of former player Danny and brother of Scotland youth international Caelan-Kiloe.

Jamacia then played the final against DR Congo, and after a goalless 90 mins , it took a goal from Burnley defender Axel Tuanzebe to send DR Congo to their second ever World Cup , they previously qualified in 1974 then known as Zaire, in a similar way to Haiti who also qualified twice in 1974 and 2026.

DR Congo will be in Group K with Portugal , Columbia and Uzbekistan.

Intercontinental Pathway 2

Mexico was also the host for these playoffs with the games being played in Monterrey.

Suriname took a shock lead early in the second half when full back Liam van Gelderen netted but Bolivia came back to win 2-1 with a Moises Paniagua goal and a penalty from striker Miguel Terceros.

Bolivia went on to play Iraq in the final.

Iraq took a first half lead through Luton Town striker Ali Almahadi but their lead was short lived with Bolivia equalising before half time through Moises Paniagua. Iraq finally made it to the World Cup with a 2-1 victory when Aymen Hussein scored in the second half , meaning Iraq go into Group I which is a tough looking group with France , Senegal and Norway.

European Pathway A

Wales hosted Bosnia & Herzegovina and took the lead through Dan James early in the second half and despite hitting the woodwork the Welsh lead remained fragile as Bosnia pushed for an equaliser. Edin Dzeko the Bosnian 40 year old captain rose in the 86th min to head them level and force the game into extra time and eventually penalties.

The Bosnian Demirovic missed the fist penalty but the tie turned when Brennan Johnson missed the Welsh 3td kick and when Neco Williams missed the Welsh 4th kick , Bosnia completed their victory to host the Pathway A final.

Italy overcame N Ireland 2-0 in Bergamo with a great finish by Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali before Moise Kean took the pressure off with a second goal ten minutes from time.

The final saw Bosnia host Italy where Moise Kean put the Italians ahead inside 15mins. Italy were reduced to ten man when Alessandro Bastoni was sent off shortly before half time.

Bosnia took the match into extra time when Haris Tabakovic equalised with ten mins remaining.

Bosnia then repeated their penalty shoot out win in Cardiff as they eliminated Italy winning 4-1 on penalties to move into Group with Canada , Qatar and Switzerland.

European Pathway B

Ukraine played Sweden in Valencia where a hat trick by Arsenal’s Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres gave his nation a 3-0 lead before a late goal was little consolation for Ukraine as they lost 3-1.

Albania took a shock 1-0 lead over Poland at half time but the Polish talisman Robert Lewandowski equalised before Piotr Zielinski put the Poles through 2-1 and into the final in Solna against Sweden.

Sweden with Englishman Graham Potter as manager took their place in the final with a 3-2 home win over Poland. Newcastle’s Anthony Elanga gave Sweden an early lead before Piotr Zielinski. It was Sweden’s former Celtic defender Gustaf Lagerbielke who put them 2-1 ahead at half time. Poland continued to battle back and Karol Swiderski equalised for a second time.

It was however Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres who proved to be the match winner and send Sweden to World Cup Group F alongside Holland , Japan and Tunisia.

European Pathway C

The early kick off saw Turkey beat Romania 1-0 with a goal from Ferdi Kadioglu and they had to wait to see where they would travel to for their final.

Slovakia took a 6th minute lead at home to Kosovo through Martin Valjent however midway through the first half Kosovo equalised through Veldin Hodza.

Slovakia regained the lead in Bratislava on the verge of half time through Lukas Haraslin.

Kosovo however equalised through Fisnik Asllani and went in front for the first time in the match 3-2 after an hour when Florent Muslija scored.

Kosovo made their place in the final safe when they went 4-2 in front through Kreshnik Hajirizi after 72mins. Slovakia’s David Strelec scored a consolation in injury time but Kosovo ran out 4-3 to host Turkey in the final.

Turkey won the playoff final when Karem Akturkoglu scored early in the second half and they qualified to play in World Cup 2026 Group D along with USA , Paraquay and Australia.

European Pathway D

Denmark who were denied qualification by Scotland’s injury time goals at Hampden in November secured a playoff final place with an impressive 4-0 win over North Macedonia in Copenhagen. It took until the second half but after Mikkel Damsgarrd scored , Gustav Isaksen added two goals in a minute and the tie was over before Christian Norgaard added a fourth,

Republic of Ireland scored a penalty by Troy Parrott in Prague before an own goal gave them a 2-0 lead. A penalty by Patrik Schick however gave Czech’s a way back into the game. A second half equaliser Ladislav Krejci took the game to penalties.

The Irish led 3-2 in the shoot out after three kicks but missed their final two and Czech Republic progressed 4-3 on penalties to the final.

Czech Republic took an early lead through Pavel Sulc , but Denmark took the game to extra time with a goal from Joachim Andersen of Fulham.

Czech defender Ladislav Krejci scored in the first half of extra time before the Danes equalised again through Kasper Hogh’s first international goal.

Czech Republic then won the penalty shootout as they had done a few days earlier against the Irish – 3-1 on penalties moving to Group A with Mexico , South Africa and South Korea.