For the first time in the competition's history, 48 teams will participate in this summer's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
With the expanded format coming into play four teams have earned their place at the tournament for the first time in their history, with Cape Verde, Curacao, Jordan, and Uzbekistan all set to feature.
After earning their place by topping Group B of CONCACAF qualifying Curacao are the smallest country ever to reach the finals, with the tiny Caribbean island having a population of just 150,000.
Interestingly, despite being relative minnows Dick Advocaat's side are not the lowest-ranked team at the World Cup this year.
That honour instead goes to 85th-ranked New Zealand, who breezed through qualifying to reach the finals for the first time since 2010.
After FIFA announced in 2017 that the tournament would be expanded to 48 teams, critics claimed that the expansion would prove detrimental for the quality of competition as whole whilst make qualifying too easy for the heavyweights of international football.
It terms of the latter criticism however, that has certainly not been the case.
After all, four-time winners Italy - who currently are ranked as the 12th best national team in the sport - missed out on a third successive tournament after being beaten on penalties by Bosnia and Herzegovina in a play-off.
Meanwhile 20th-ranked Denmark also failed to claim a spot in the finals after losing a shootout of their own against the Czech Republic.
The highest-placed non-UEFA side to miss out on this summer's festivities is Nigeria, who are currently ranked 26th in the world.
The Super Eagles have historically being one of Africa's strongest sides and have reached the last 16 of the World Cup on three separate occasions.
Like the previous two teams mentioned penalties proved to be Nigeria's undoing as they were bested from 12 yards by DR Congo in November of last year to miss out on a place in the inter-confederational play-offs.
While we've covered some of the highest-profile absentees, what about the teams that are preparing to go in search of glory next month?
Here's the world rankings of every team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Every 2026 World Cup team's current ranking
Group A
Team | Confederation | Ranking |
Mexico | CONCACAF | 15 |
South Korea | AFC | 25 |
Czech Republic | UEFA | 42 |
South Africa | CAF | 60 |
Group B
Switzerland | UEFA | 19 |
Canada | CONCACAF | 30 |
Qatar | AFC | 55 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | UEFA | 65 |
Group C
Brazil | CONMEBOL | 6 |
Morocco | CAF | 8 |
Scotland | UEFA | 43 |
Haiti | CONCACAF | 83 |
Group D
United States | CONCACAF | 16 |
Turkey | UEFA | 22 |
Australia | AFC | 27 |
Paraguay | CONMEBOL | 40 |
Group E
Germany | UEFA | 10 |
Ecuador | CONMEBOL | 23 |
Ivory Coast | CAF | 34 |
Curacao | CONCACAF | 82 |
Group F
Netherlands | UEFA | 7 |
Japan | AFC | 18 |
Sweden | UEFA | 38 |
Tunisia | AFC | 44 |
Group G
Belgium | UEFA | 9 |
Iran | AFC | 21 |
Egypt | CAF | 29 |
New Zealand | OFC | 85 |
Group H
Spain | UEFA | 2 |
Uruguay | CONMEBOL | 17 |
Saudi Arabia | AFC | 61 |
Cape Verde | CAF | 69 |
Group I
France | UEFA | 1 |
Senegal | CAF | 14 |
Norway | UEFA | 31 |
Iraq | AFC | 57 |
Group J
Argentina | CONMEBOL | 3 |
Austria | UEFA | 24 |
Algeria | CAF | 28 |
Jordan | AFC | 63 |
Group K
Portugal | UEFA | 5 |
Colombia | CONMEBOL | 13 |
DR Congo | CAF | 46 |
Uzbekistan | AFC | 50 |
Group L
England | UEFA | 4 |
Croatia | UEFA | 11 |
Panama | CONCACAF | 33 |
Ghana | CAF | 74 |
