What to know about the 2026 World Cup playoffs

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MADRID (AP) — The final six World Cup places will be decided this week with the conclusion of two playoff tournaments that will complete the 48-team lineup.

Eight teams from Europe will compete for four spots, while the new intercontinental tournament that is being staged in Mexico will determine the other two places.

The biggest ever World Cup — up from 32 teams in Qatar in 2022 — is being co-hosted by three nations for the first time: The United States, Canada and Mexico.

Four-time champion Italy is the standout name in the European playoffs as it tries to avoid missing out on a World Cup for a third consecutive time.

“We all know what we’re playing for,” said 32-year-old Italy winger Matteo Politano, who has never played in a World Cup. “For me, and for a few of the other senior players, it’s probably our last chance.”

There will be more European teams than from any other continent at the World Cup: 16.

Eight teams made it through the last round of the playoffs and will seek the final four spots in winner-take-all matches: Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Italy, Sweden vs. Poland, Kosovo vs. Turkey and Czech Republic vs. Denmark.

All four games will be played Tuesday.

The winner of the Turkey-Kosovo game will enter into Group D, which already has the United States, Paraguay and Australia.

There is a different format for the intercontinental playoffs, which FIFA simply calls the Playoff Tournament.

Two teams will advance from a field of six.

The initial lineup was made up of two teams from CONCACAF (Jamaica, Suriname) and one each from Asia (Iraq), Africa (Congo), South America (Bolivia) and Oceania (New Caledonia).

Congo, Jamaica, Iraq and Bolivia made it through to the final two matches. Congo will face Jamaica and Bolivia will play Iraq.

The decisive games will be played in Guadalajara and Monterrey on Tuesday.

Co-hosts: Canada, Mexico and the United States.

Asia: Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan

Africa: Algeria, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia

North America, Central America and Caribbean: Curacao, Haiti, Panama

South America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay

Oceania: New Zealand

Europe: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland

June and July. It kicks off at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on June 11. The final is on July 19 at MetLife Stadium, which will be referred to as New York New Jersey Stadium during the tournament.

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer