I can't be bothered looking for the original - will update and copypasta this post sometime tomorrow, and then again on Wednesday afternoon (after all qualifiers for this window are complete)
CURRENT PROJECTED QUALIFICATION SLOTS (based SOLELY off Current Group Standings, and then FIFA Rankings to decide playoff participants/winners/etc
Bold = already qualified for that stage/World Cup finals
Pots + rankings to come after work (and playoff paths, I might try and work that out too as best I can)
CURRENT as of 14/10/2025 3pm AEDT
CONCACAF
- USA (16)
- Canada (27)
- Mexico (14)
- Suriname (129)
- Curacao (81)
- Honduras (66)
CAF
- Morocco (12)
- Tunisia (43)
- Egypt (33)
- Algeria (38)
- Ghana (73)
- Senegal (18)
- Benin (88)
- Cape Verde (72)
- Ivory Coast (42)
AFC
- Japan (20)
- Korea Republic (22)
- Iran (21)
- Australia (24)
- Uzbekistan (54)
- Jordan (67)
- Saudi Arabia (59)
- United Arab Emirates (65)
OFC
- New Zealand (84)
CONMEBOL
- Argentina (3)
- Ecuador (23)
- Colombia (13)
- Uruguay (15)
- Brazil (6)
- Paraguay (39)
UEFA
- Germany (11)
- Switzerland (17)
- Denmark (19)
- France (2)
- Spain (1)
- Portugal (5)
- Netherlands (7)
- Austria (25)
- Norway (30)
- Belgium (8)
- England (4)
- Croatia (10)
Playoffs (any confederation)
- Intercontinental 1
- Intercontinental 2
- New Caledonia (149)
- Bolivia (75)
- Jamaica (70)
- Honduras (66)
- Cameroon (52)
- Qatar (55)
- UEFA 1
- UEFA 2
- UEFA 3
- UEFA 4
- Slovakia (47)
- Kosovo (89)
- Scotland (37)
- Ukraine (28)
- Turkey (26)
- Hungary (40)
- Poland (34)
- Bosnia & Herzegovina (74)
- Italy (9)
- North Macedonia (63)
- Albania (62)
- Czechia (44)
- Wales (32)
- Romania (45)
- Sweden (35)
- Moldova (157)
Playoff Fixtures
INTERCONTINENTAL
- Held across 4 matches in two separate paths, with the two highest ranked teams being seeded (Cameroon and Qatar in the above scenario)
- Each path will follow the fixture list below:
- Match 1: Unseeded A v Unseeded B
- Match 2: Seeded v Winner Match 1
- Winner of Match 2 qualifies for FIFA World Cup
- The four unseeded nations will be drawn randomly.
UEFA
- 4x pots of 4, split by FIFA ranking for the group runners up in Pots 1-3, with the four Nations League qualifiers in Pot 4.
- Each path will consist of 2 single-leg 'Semi Finals' (at the higher seed home ground), with a final for each path to determine qualification (to be drawn randomly of the two 'Semi Final' winners
- Pots 1 and 2 will be kept separate from each other, as will Pots 3 and 4, with each path to be followed as such:
- Match A: Pot 1 v Pot 4
- Match B: Pot 2 v Pot 3
- Match C: Winner Match A v Winner Match B
- Winner of Match C to qualify for FIFA World Cup
- Below are the pots as they would be based off the above breakdown:
- Note that Kosovo v Bosnia & Herzergovina is a prohibited clash by UEFA, and cannot be drawn into the same path
| POT 1 | POT 2 | POT 3 | POT 4 |
| Italy | Scotland | Slovakia | Kosovo |
| Turkey | Hungary | Albania | Moldova |
| Ukraine | Czechia | North Macedonia | Wales |
| Poland | Romania | Bosnia & Herzegovina | Sweden |
The Pots
Bold = hosts
Pot 1
- Spain (1)
- France (2)
- Argentina (3)
- England (4)
- Portugal (5)
- Brazil (6)
- Netherlands (7)
- Belgium (8)
- Croatia (10)
- Mexico (14)
- USA (16)
- Canada (27)
Pot 2
- Germany (11)
- Morocco (12)
- Colombia (13)
- Uruguay (15)
- Switzerland (17)
- Senegal (18)
- Denmark (19)
- Japan (20)
- Iran (21)
- Korea Republic (22)
- Ecuador (23)
- Australia (24)
- Austria (25)
Pot 3
- Norway (30)
- Egypt (33)
- Algeria (38)
- Paraguay (39)
- Ivory Coast (42)
- Tunisia (43)
- Uzbekistan (54)
- Saudi Arabia (59)
- North Macedonia (63)
- United Arab Emirates (65)
- Jordan (67)
- Cape Verde (72)
Pot 4
- Ghana (73)
- Curacao (81)
- New Zealand (84)
- Haiti (85)
- Benin (88)
- Suriname (129)
- Intercontinental Playoff Winner #1
- Intercontinental Playoff Winner #2
- UEFA Playoff Winner # 1
- UEFA Playoff Winner # 2
- UEFA Playoff Winner #3
- UEFA Playoff Winner #4
Just for shits and gigs, I did how the pots would be based off current rankings if all the highest ranking nations from each confederation qualified in their 'rightful' spot. Surprisingly, Australia is only one slot off Pot 2 in this instance (by 0.57 points!)
Essentially, this means should only one of Italy, Belgium, Germany, or Denmark fail to qualify directly (these seem to be the 4 most at risk based off the tables), we will be in Pot 2 for the final draw
In terms of countries 'failing' to qualify, when they really should have, these are the nations that aren't set to qualify (again, based off standings), that should have (based off rankings)
CONCACAF
- Panama (29)
- Costa Rica* (46)
- Currently on track to advance via the Intercontinental playoffs, but should have qualified directly based off rankings
CONMEBOL
- Peru* (49)
- Should have advanced to Intercontinental Playoffs (and qualify) based off rankings
AFC
- Qatar* (55)
- Currently on track to advance to Intercontinental Playoffs (and qualify based off rankings), but should have qualified directly
- Iraq* (58)
- Currently on track to advance to final Asian playoff (and fail to qualify based off rankings), but should have qualified directly
CAF
- Nigeria (41)
- Cameroon* (52)
- Currently on track to advance to Intercontinental Playoffs (and qualify based off rankings), but should have qualified directly
- Mali (53)
- South Africa* (57)
- Currently in the mix for qualifying for the African Playoffs (and failing to qualify based of standings), but should theoretically qualify for the Intercontinental Playoffs (and qualify) based off rankings
OFC
- Solomon Islands* (148)
- Should have advanced to Intercontinental Playoffs (and fail to qualify) based off rankings
UEFA
- Belgium* (8)
- Currently on track to advance to UEFA Playoffs (and qualify based off rankings), but should have qualified directly
- Italy* (9)
- Currently on track to advance to UEFA Playoffs (and qualify based off rankings), but should have qualified directly
- Wales* (32)
- Currently on track to advance to Intercontinental Playoffs (and fail to qualify based off rankings), but should qualify for the World Cup via UEFA Playoffs based off rankings
P.S - remind to just do the spreadsheet first next time - will save space on the post!