The 2026 FIFA World Cup is now one year away as of today. Football’s premier international competition will take over large portions of the daily news agenda 365 days from now on 11 June 2026. The tournament will be held across 16 cities across the United States, Canada and Mexico, and defending champions Argentina have already qualified. 

At the forefront of the minds from the opposite side of the Americas is just one question. Will it be one last dance for Lionel Messi?

The 2026 World Cup will be the first to be played with 48 teams, nearly doubling the number of games in the tournament from 64 to a staggering 104. Teams can qualify directly, via their confederation qualifiers, or through the playoffs. When all direct spots are decided, the last few slots will be allocated in March 2026 with the inter-confederation play-offs mini-tournament.

So far, only 13 teams have sealed their ticket to the tournament. For North, Central America and Caribbean confederation CONCACAF, hosts U.S., Canada and Mexico are confirmed, with a further three direct spots available and two playoffs spots.

Asia football governing body AFC is the confederation with the most teams already confirmed. Japan, Iran, South Korea, and Australia have sealed their qualification, just as they had for Qatar 2022. The debuting Uzbekistan and Jordan will also join them in, with two further spots and a........

© Buenos Aires Herald