Six countries have already secured qualification for the 2030 FIFA World Cup after FIFA confirmed the unusual hosting format for the tournament.
The 2030 World Cup will be played across six nations and three continents as part of celebrations to mark 100 years since the first World Cup was held.
To honor that milestone, the opening games will take place in South America before the rest of the tournament moves to venues in Europe and Africa.
Because of this arrangement, the three main host countries have been given automatic spots. Spain, Portugal and Morocco will all go straight into the finals without having to go through qualifiers.
They will be joined by three South American nations who will stage the opening centenary matches.
Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay have also been granted automatic qualification by FIFA.
That brings the number of teams already confirmed to six.
All other countries will still have to earn their places through the normal qualifying process in their respective regions.
This will be the first time the World Cup is staged across three continents at once, with games set for Europe, Africa and South America. It also marks exactly a century since Uruguay hosted and won the very first World Cup in 1930.
For Africa, it is a return of the tournament after South Africa hosted it in 2010. Morocco will now become the second African nation to host World Cup matches, and the first from North Africa to do so.
FIFA is currently working with a 48-team format for the 2030 edition, which is the same size used for the 2026 tournament.
However, there has been talk about expanding it further to 64 teams to mark the centenary. No decision has been made on that yet and discussions are ongoing.
Here is the full list of teams that have already qualified for the 2030 World Cup:
Spain as host, Portugal as host, Morocco as host, Argentina as centenary host, Uruguay as centenary host, and Paraguay as centenary host.
With six places already taken, the race will now begin in earnest across all confederations to decide the rest of the field for what promises to be a historic edition of the World Cup.