Relatively, the Oceania continent – with 10 nations competing in the qualifiers – tend to either have no spot or just one available through inter-confederation play-offs. Four direct spots are available for the finals, with one more obtainable via inter-confederation playoffs. In South America (CONMEBOL), 10 nations participate in the FIFA World Cup qualifying round. The number of representatives can increase to four depending on the success of a country from the region in the inter-confederation playoffs. The CONCACAF (North and Central America and the Caribbean) World Cup qualifying features 35 nations who contest for three direct FIFA World Cup spots. No inter-confederation playoffs are used to determine the eligibility of any of the participants from the continent. Also, the first two rounds of the AFC WCQ are used to determine the teams that will participate in the subsequent AFC Asian Cup.įor CAF (Africa), 54 nations compete for five spots at the FIFA World Cup through the qualifiers. One more is available through inter-confederation playoffs. In Asia, 46 nations are involved with four direct spots at stake. The format for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers varies depending on the confederation. The main tournament, organized by FIFA every four years, gathers national teams from Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, North and Central America and Caribbean, and Oceania. It is a group qualification event in which over 200 footballing nations compete for 31 spots to join the chosen hosts in the World Cup finals. The FIFA World Cup qualification is an exciting two to three-year-long contest that precedes the major competition.