The FIFA World Cup 2026 is scheduled to commence on June 11, 2026 and will be hosted across three countries: the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Mexico will take on South Africa in Mexico City in the inaugural match of the tournament. Presently, Pakistan relies heavily on cricket to bring it laurels. There is an imperative need to diversify and invest in other sports, particularly in the absence of a consistent performance in cricket, coupled with the decline of fortunes in squash and hockey.

One sport which can play a pivotal role in uplifting the international sporting image of Pakistan is football. Compared to cricket which is more region-specific, sports such as football attract a more global appeal and viewership.

However, being more alien to this country as compared to hockey, squash and cricket, there is little awareness about international football in Pakistan. As such, let’s first delve deeper into the basic mechanics of how to qualify to play in the FIFA World Cup championships, before discussing our current standing in the game.

The Global Game: FIFA and AFC Allocations

Just like cricket, which is governed by the ICC (International Cricket Council), the governing body for world football is FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) having its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland.

FIFA has a total of 211 associate members, but only 48 teams altogether qualify to play for the World Cup (as per the new expanded format for the 2026 World Cup). The teams are divided into six confederations worldwide, depending on which region a team belongs to. For instance, Pakistan belongs to the AFC (the Asian Football Confederation), countries in Europe come under the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations), and so on. Each of these confederations has been allotted a fixed number of slots by FIFA.

How to Qualify: Let’s take the example of AFC (Asia, Australia). AFC has been allocated 8 direct slots + 1 playoff slot. This means that the top 8 teams from AFC will qualify for direct entry to play in the FIFA World Cup. In addition to these 8 teams, the 9th ranked team amongst the AFC gets another chance by playing against a team from another confederation (known as an inter-confederation tournament), based on a single elimination format. FIFA decides which other confederation member is pitted against this 9th ranked team from AFC.

So how are the eight teams selected in the AFC example? In the current AFC format, there are initially 46 Asian teams at the start, which compete for the qualification round, as per breakdown below:

There are basically five rounds played to determine which 8 teams from the AFC qualify for the FIFA World Cup.

Round 1 (20 teams): Twenty of the lowest ranked Asian teams compete against each other in the first round.

Round 2 (26 teams, already pre-qualified by FIFA due to their high ranking): There are 26 high ranking teams in Asia, which get an automatic entry to Round 2 by virtue of their high ranking, as pre-determined by FIFA. These high ranked countries in Asia include heavyweights such as: Japan, Iran, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE etc.

Round 1 vs. Round 2: (total teams competing is 46). So in effect, 46 countries (20+26) are competing to qualify for the (8+1) World Cup slots, the extra 1 being allowed to the 9th ranked team, as explained above.

The 10 winners from Round 1 then join the 26 pre-qualified teams (10 + 26). These 36 teams are formed into groups who play double round-robin matches with each other, and thus 18 teams win to go into the third round.

Round 3: (18 survive from round 2)

The 18 teams are divided into three groups, (thus having 6 teams in each group). After their encounter with each other, the top 6 teams qualify for the FIFA World Cup whereas the middle six move to round 4. The bottom six teams stand eliminated.

Round 4: (the 6 survivors from round 3)

They play in two small groups of three against each other. The top two teams qualify for the FIFA World Cup while the middle two go to the fifth round. The last two make an exit from the World Cup campaign.

Round 5: (the two survivors from Round 4)

The two teams fight it out and the winner goes through to play in the inter-confederation tournament, thus getting another chance to make it to the FIFA World Cup championships.

The above is the long road to qualification for the World Cup, for the nine teams of the AFC confederation. Out of these, 8 teams qualify for direct entry after fighting each other out and the ninth team gets a chance by beating one of the other inter-confederation teams.

The Pakistan Case: Historically, the game of football in Pakistan has suffered from many self-inflicted challenges, including severe administrative infighting and non-compliance/rejection of constitutional amendments proposed by FIFA. This resulted in FIFA imposing a ban on Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) on multiple occasions, thus resulting in major setbacks in terms of the country’s credibility, reputation and sports governance. However, the last ban was lifted in March 2025 after PFF agreed to the proposed FIFA amendments. FIFA in August 2025 reaffirmed their recognition of PFF as the sole governing body in Pakistan, which came as a big relief for the future of the game of football in Pakistan. Since then, the country has been making efforts to re-establish the lost credibility. The lifting of the ban has once again provided PFF an opportunity to learn from past mistakes and move forward in the right direction.

Notable efforts have been made in this regard. The most positive initiative, and one which made a significant impact, was the appointment in 2023 of the renowned English coach Stephen Constantine.

Under his guidance, Pakistan achieved a remarkable milestone. For the very first time, since their participation in qualifier tournaments from 1990 onwards, Pakistan created history by winning their first round match in a FIFA World Cup qualifying tie by beating Cambodia in the first round, thus moving into the second round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. This was a remarkable feat in itself, an achievement which creates hope for the future of football in this country.

A Narrative for the Future: As the world focuses its attention on the forthcoming FIFA World Cup to be held in June 2026, Pakistan will watch the proceedings from the sideline. However, qualifying for the second round has provided the country just the impetus it needs to improve its global standing in football. The narrative has now shifted in our football circles from gloom and despair to one of hope and possibilities.

The onus is upon all stakeholders, including the coaches, athletes and decision makers to do what it takes to promote football and maybe one day soon we find ourselves qualifying to play in the mega FIFA tournament.

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