The largest World Cup in history, the first to feature 48 national teams, received its first participants during the March events - seven places, along with the hosts United States, Mexico and Canada, were filled by the world champion and the best teams from Asia and Oceania.
Argentina "conquered" the world in Qatar almost two and a half years ago, and then continued in practically the same rhythm. There were some defeats in the qualifiers for Lionel Scaloni's team, but his men finished the job with four rounds to go.
And in grand style - with a victory over their biggest rival Brazil (4:1) in the hell of "Monumental", all without Lionel Messi and Lautaro Martinez.
The world champion thus took the first step towards defending his title without a mistake.
When it comes to South America, Ecuador, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay and Colombia are close to qualifying for the World Cup...
The World Cup sun first warmed the land of the rising sun, as Japan was the first team to book a place in the USA, Mexico and Canada.
The team, led by masters like Kaoru Mitoma and Takefusa Kuba, finished the job at the start of the March action with a victory over Bahrain in Saitama (2:0).
The "Samurai" made their debut at the world championships in 1998 and have been regular participants ever since.
Together with them from Asia, Iranian football players have already qualified - for the "Princes of Persia" this will be their seventh appearance at the biggest football competition.
From the largest continent, South Korea and Uzbekistan are also close to the World Cup, while Australia should also finish the job. The final round of qualifications has three groups of six teams, the top two from each going to the World Cup, and all third and fourth-placed teams in a play-off.
Probably the least interesting qualifiers are being played in Oceania, where New Zealand had no trouble qualifying for the world championship.
Chris Wood and his teammates beat New Caledonia (3:0) in the final, securing their place in the World Cup and sending their rivals from the decisive match into the intercontinental play-off.
While the qualifiers in Europe and the Concacaf zone (Central and North America) are just getting underway, the names of potential World Cup participants are already being drawn in Africa.
The winners of nine groups will secure a visa, with Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Ghana currently close to securing one. In addition to the group winners, the best four second-placed teams will advance to the play-offs.
Of the big names from this continent, Nigeria is currently in the most difficult situation, sitting in fourth place in Group C with seven points - ahead of South Africa (13), Rwanda and Benin (eight each).
The first four tickets for the World Cup were quickly snapped up, with another 41 waiting for their owners - in any case, there is still a lot of football to be played to complete the squad that will compete for the Golden Goddess in the summer of 2026.
Bonus video:
