ZURICH (AP) — Iraq will have to beat Bolivia or Suriname in a one-game playoff next March to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Iraq was seeded in a six-nation draw on Thursday at FIFA headquarters for the intercontinental playoffs that will send two teams to the 48-nation tournament co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Congo was seeded in the other intercontinental playoffs bracket and will play the winner of a single-game semifinal between New Caledonia and Jamaica.
A separate draw for European playoffs brackets in March — involving 16 teams, including four-time champion Italy, playing for four World Cup places — was being made minutes later at FIFA.
The six intercontinental playoff games will be staged in Mexico from March 23-31 at stadiums in Guadalajara and Monterrey, which each will host four World Cup games next June.
A total of six teams will advance from the two sets of playoffs in March to complete the first 48-nation lineup.
The other 42 teams were confirmed this week when qualifying groups and playoff games were completed on four continents.
The World Cup draw is on Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. There, the six unconfirmed playoffs teams will be drawn as placeholders and should come out of the pot of lowest-ranked teams in the seeded draw.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Graham Dunbar, The Associated Press
