One country cannot compete in the United States, Canada, or Mexico.
Despite multiple sanctions during the qualification stages, one country has been formally barred from competing in the 2026 World Cup.
Several countries were either temporarily suspended or completely removed from the qualifiers.
FIFA punished the Congolese football association (FECOFOOT) in February for a ‘particularly serious situation’ of undue influence during the African qualifying round.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) then cancelled all of their remaining matches, including two scheduled for March against Zambia and Tanzania, which were handed 3-0 victories to the opposition.
The ban would be removed in May, and Congo would play two of their final three qualifiers during the impending international break.
However, the African nation has already been eliminated from qualification after losing all five of their matches thus far.
Eritrea withdrew from the same African qualifying group before playing any matches, with reports stating that their administration, a totalitarian dictatorship, was anxious that players would seek sanctuary in other nations when travelling to away matches.
They returned to international football in May for their first match in nearly five years, and as a result, are the lowest-ranked FIFA nation, but will not compete in World Cup qualifying.
In Asian qualifying, Pakistan was suspended after it was discovered that their amended constitution failed to ‘guarantee truly fair and democratic elections’. The ban has already been lifted.
Russia remains the only legally prohibited country from competing in the World Cup.
The country was suspended by UEFA and FIFA following their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and they have yet to be allowed to return to competitive football.
around the last three years, Russia has instead played friendly matches against nations from all around the world of football, with the exception of Europe.
Belarus is the only European exemption, having hosted a friendly against Russia in Minsk in June.
Belarus has been barred from competing in a number of sports, including tennis and athletics, as a result of its involvement in Russia’s conflict against Ukraine, and it will also be unable to compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Belarus has been banned by UEFA from hosting competitive internationals, but they are still allowed to compete in World Cup qualifiers.
They will host all of their World Cup qualifying matches in Hungary beginning this month, with Scotland, Denmark, and Greece put into their group.
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