Journey to football history: World Cup 2026 qualifiers bring revolutionary changes
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The football world is experiencing a historic moment. Qualifications for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada, and Mexico are in full swing and bring the biggest changes in the modern history of world football. For the first time, 48 teams instead of the traditional 32 will participate in the tournament, meaning fifty percent more places and unprecedented opportunities for smaller football nations. The three host countries - USA, Canada, and Mexico - have automatically secured participation, leaving 45 places to be distributed among the remaining confederations. A revolutionary step is also the first guaranteed place for the Oceanic confederation OFC in World Cup history, ending years of discrimination against island states. Qualifications officially began on September 7, 2023, in the South American CONMEBOL zone, where the first goal was scored by Rafael Santos Borré from Colombia against Venezuela. Since then, hundreds of dramatic battles have taken place across all contine...