'March madness' gives final verdict: Two playoffs, 18 teams & six remaining World Cup tickets

42/48. Almost all the seats on the plane bound for the USA, Canada, and Mexico are taken. Six are available, and 18 interested parties want to book their tickets. The math is clear: only the third - the most determined ones and those with the strongest burning desire - will board.

The last tickets will be handed out in March, and the remaining national teams which still nurture their hopes and dreams for the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be separated into two playoff groups: one for European sides and the other for the rest of the world.

Sixteen teams from the "old continent" will be divided into four paths, each containing four teams. Each path will feature two semi-finals and a final, both single-legged, and the draw will be held tomorrow at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich.

Twelve sides have booked their playoff spots through the qualifiers (Slovakia, Kosovo*, Denmark, Ukraine, Turkey, Republic of Ireland, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Wales, Albania, and Czech Republic), while the remaining four (Romania, Sweden, North Macedonia, and Northern Ireland) deserved their places thanks to their results in the UEFA Nations League.

Semi-final clashes are scheduled for March 26, while the D-Day for the Europeans will be March 31, and the four hosts will be determined at the draw.

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As for the rest of the world, six teams will participate in the inter-confederation playoffs. Each confederation sent one entrant, except for the hosting one, North American CONCACAF, which gave two.

Therefore, Iraq (AFC, Asia), DR Congo (CAF, Africa), Bolivia (CONMEBOL, South America), New Caledonia (OFC, Oceania), and Jamaica and Suriname (CONCACAF, North America) will compete for the two remaining places in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Iraq and DR Congo, as the two best-ranked teams in the FIFA ranking, will be seeded and have qualified directly for the two grand finals. The remaining competitors will be divided into two paths and will play single-legged semi-finals, before facing the Asian and African representatives in decisive clashes.

Given that they come from the same confederation, Jamaica and Suriname won't be able to face each other, meaning that one of them will face Bolivia, and the other will play against the absolute underdogs (and everyone's dream rival), New Caledonia.

Just like in the case of the UEFA playoffs, the draw will be held tomorrow in Zurich. This "mini-tournament" will also be played in March - though the dates have yet to be revealed - and all the games will take place in Mexico, at Estadio BBVA in Monterrey and Estadio Akron in Guadalajara.