Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo will be able to play his side's opening matches at next year's World Cup after FIFA suspended the final two matches of a three-match ban on Tuesday.

Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas, is going to the 2026 World Cup -- the culmination of an 18-month period of painstaking work by coach Sebastien Migne who is yet to even visit the country.

With 42 teams punching their tickets after the final wave of direct qualifiers, the race to the 2026 FIFA World Cup has boiled down to six last spots -- four in Europe and two across the rest of the world. The continent playoffs now stand between 22 hopeful nations and football’s grandest stage, setting up a tense March window in Europe and an intriguing intercontinental showdown involving teams from Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania.

Nigeria's football coach has accused the Democratic Republic of Congo of practising "voodoo" after his squad's hopes of qualifying for the 2026 World Cup ended in a penalty shootout loss.

A 96th-minute Troy Parrott goal to complete his hat-trick booked Ireland a spot in the playoffs for next year's World Cup with a thrilling 3-2 comeback victory over their nearest Group F rivals Hungary in a must-win game in Budapest.

Portugal thrashed Armenia 9-1 in their final Group F qualifier on Sunday to qualify for the 2026 World Cup as group toppers, with Bruno Fernandes leading the charge with a hattrick.

A disappointed Jeremy Doku said Belgium have not been good enough in most of their World Cup qualifiers, even though they have the routine task of needing to beat tiny Liechtenstein at home on Tuesday to secure a berth at next year's finals.

In-form striker Mikel Oyarzabal scored twice as Spain thrashed Georgia 4-0 away on Saturday to set a national record and all but guarantee their place in next year's World Cup finals.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said Friday his squad are on their way to becoming "legendary" like the players that won the country's first World Cup, in 2010, and the 2008 and 2012 European Championships.

Croatia booked their ticket to the 2026 World Cup in North America with an unconvincing 3-1 win over the in-form Faroe Islands on Friday as the Netherlands all but booked their spot in the finals too.

Germany forward Nick Woltemade scored twice in the second half to give the four-time world champions a hard-earned 2-0 win over Luxembourg in their penultimate 2026 World Cup qualifier on Friday, leaving them on the brink of automatic qualification.

On Friday, November 13, 2015, a series of attacks in Paris and around the Stade de France during a friendly match between Les Bleus and Germany left a total of 130 people dead.

Lamine Yamal has been released from the Spain squad for their upcoming 2026 World Cup qualifying matches after undergoing treatment, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) announced Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia-based veteran N'Golo Kante returned to the France squad to reinforce the injury-hit midfield for the World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

Spain confirmed Monday Manchester City midfielder Rodri Hernandez will not be joining them for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers, after suffering a hamstring injury.

The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner will sit out Argentina’s final group match against Ecuador next week.

Paqueta and Guimaraes struck in quick succession late in the second half to put the result beyond doubt.

Argentina were dealt a major blow when Enzo Fernandez was shown a red card, leaving the hosts with ten men for a large portion of the match. Colombia capitalised on the numerical advantage early, taking the lead through Luis Diaz in the 24th minute.

Coach Tony Popovic said "we've done something special" after his Australia side moved to the brink of next year's World Cup on Thursday while Indonesia ended China's qualifying hopes.

New Zealand reached the World Cup for only the third time.