Ranking the Middle East and North African teams at World Cup 2026
Key takeaways
- Breaking down the eight Middle East and North African teams’ chances at the World Cup in North America.
- The Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) will be represented by a record eight teams at the 2026 World Cup: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.
- The participation of so many Arabic-speaking teams at a World Cup is unprecedented.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Breaking down the eight Middle East and North African teams’ chances at the World Cup in North America.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Brahim Diaz, right, and teammate Achraf Hakimi will be hoping to improve on their team's MENA-best fourth-place World Cup finish in Qatar in 2022 [File: Visionhaus/Getty Images]By Ali El Garni Published On 9 Jun 20269 Jun 2026You can follow the action on Al Jazeera’s dedicated World Cup 2026 page with all the latest news, match build-up and live text commentary, and keep up to date with group standings, real-time match results and schedules.
The Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) will be represented by a record eight teams at the 2026 World Cup: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. Iran, which is geographically in the Middle East, is part of the Central Asian Football Association.